In the 7th century, the fabled Arabian town of Ukaz, located on the road to the heart of the holy site in Mecca, was known for the hustle and bustle of its market place. Apart from all the normal commercial exchanges, the market was also a meeting point for the best Arab poets from the region.
In the midst of all the eloquent men stood a woman, Al Khansa – a nom du plume meaning “gazelle” or the “snub-nosed” – whose talent for poetry quickly became the envy of her contemporaries.
Her real name was Tumadir bint ‘Amr ibn Al Harth ibn Al Sharid. She was born about 575 in Najid of Arabia (now Saudi Arabia), died in 646, and is regarded as the greatest Arab woman poet who ever lived.
Her writing is considered paramount to the legendary Al Muaallaqat poems (a compilation of seven works regarded as the some of the best poems from the pre-Islamic era). The Prophet Mohammed was known to have enjoyed her poetry – he would often ask her to compose and recite them at his gatherings.
"If you want to know the best that has ever been written by a female Arab poet, then you must read Diwan Al Khansa," says Emirati poetess Maryam Al Naqbi of the Sharjah Centre for Popular Poetry.
Al Khansa's Diwan (Collection of Poems) features hundreds of lines of her best writing – from rebuttals and witty responses to famous Arab poets of her time, to works covering themes such as honour, love, family values and tradition. It is not currently available in English, but extracts are included in some collections. According to professor Hasan Al Naboodah, an Emirati historian and dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at the UAE University in Al Ain, Al Khansa's works provide insight into a rich time in Arab history.
“Al Khansa’s poetry spanned a very interesting period – the pre-islamic period and the early Islamic period – and so her poems are very important, historically,” he says.
“In Arab literature, particularly poetry, the background of the authors themselves was an important factor. Al Khansa was from an important tribe, and she had a presence. She was a witness to important events and her poems capture beautifully what has happened.”
Al Nabigha Al Dhubyaani (535 to 604), a famous classical Arab poet – who is credited with giving Al Khansa her nom de plume – said of her that no poet could match her skills.
Kahlil Gibran (1883 to 1931), who is sometimes referred to as the “Arab Shakespeare”, was so inspired by Al Khansa that he sketched a famous portrait of her with a mournful expression.
His portrayal was rooted in her struggles and tragedies. Al Khansa’s two brothers died in tribal skirmishes, then she lost her four sons who, inspired by Prophet Mohammed’s call for salvation, converted to Islam and were killed in the Battle of Qadisiyah in 636.
She also converted to Islam, becoming one of the first female poets of the Islamic era.
The loss of her sons for the sake of sharing the message of Islam also gave her another title – Umm Al Shuhada (Mother of Martyrs). Her poetry, with a focus on grief, continues to strike a chord more than a thousand years later.
“No matter how many times I have read her elegies, they always touch me and hit at the heart,” says Al Naqbi.
“It is like she captured the very essence of grief and loss, a timeless and universal theme that anyone and everyone can identify with.”
Indeed, Al Khansa’s elegies to the fallen, called “marthiyah” in Arabic, are renowned as some of the most stirring writing of its kind in Arabic.
A story is told of how, when her brother, Mu’awiya, died in a raid, Al Khansa beseeched her other brother, Sakhr, to seek vengeance against the offending tribe.
Sakhr successfully defeated the tribe and killed his brother’s murderers, but died a year later from the wounds sustained in the battle.
Al Khansa then composed some of her most famous, heartfelt poems in honour of Sakhr: “Go, then. May God not keep you far, a man such as you / One who prosecutes injustice and exacts retaliations / You bore a non-oppressive heart upright, unbending / Like a spearhead whose blade illuminates the night / Firm and resolute, noble and of noble descent / And I shall weep for you as long as the dove coos and as long as the stars light up the dark for the night traveller.”
Al Naqbi says that Al Khansa’s poetry has often provided succour when her family suffers a loss.
“The rising and setting of the sun keep turning on my memory of Sakhr’s death,” is a line she cites as being one of the most comforting.
Several female poets have been dubbed “Al Khansa” of their eras, including Laila Al Akhyaliyya (died 709), for example, who is considered Al Khansa of the Umayyad period.
“It has always been harder being a female poet in our culture, and in the Arab world in general, and so legends such as Al Khansa inspire us all,” says Al Naqbi.
One of the first girls’ schools in the country, which opened in 1958 in Deira, Dubai, was named after Al Khansa. Across the Arab world, numerous schools, hospitals and literary institutions are named after her.
"Women poets have been around since the earliest times, yet their diwans [collected poems] were not given the same attention as the men's, even though the women poets may have been princesses, noblewomen or saints," wrote Abdullah Al Udhari, the author of the 1999 bilingual anthology, Classical Poems by Arab Women, which includes a chapter on Al Khansa. "Apart from Khansa's Diwan, no other diwans by women have yet appeared.
“Khansa is the only woman poet to have attracted the attention of the classical editors and critics, who regarded her as the greatest Arab woman poet.”
Publisher Saqi Books recently reprinted Al Khansa’s seminal work in a new edition.
"We are reprinting because we believe that it is a very important book, and totally unique," say spokesperson Elizabeth Briggs. "These poems, many rarely seen, deserve to reach a wide readership, which is what we hope to help them achieve through this beautiful reprint of Classical Poems by Arab Women."
If Al Naboodah was to compare Al Khansa to a western historical figure, it would be Queen Elizabeth I, who ushered in a creatively dynamic period in English history, referred to as the “Elizabethan Age”.
“Al Khansa remained a powerful figure, and a leader, in spite of all her turmoil and losses. She was like a queen,” says Al Naboodah. “Our history is not just the history of men, it includes the great contributions of our women, and Diwan Al Khansa is one of the most famous ones to learn.”
• Next week on Arabic Treasures, we look at the legacy of the Arab world’s most famous work, A Thousand and One Nights
rghazal@thenational.ae
