CONSORTS OF THE CALIPHS
In the name of God, Full of Compassion, Ever Compassionate, in Whom I place my trust
By praising God, lord of all the worlds, I begin * and by pronouncing blessings upon our master Muáž„ammad and his kin. * Having compiled The Lives of Those Gracious and Bounteous Consorts of Caliphs * Who Lived to See Their Own Sons Become Caliph * I now wish to write * about famous favorites * whether consorts or concubines of caliphs.
God grant me success! 0.1
1
កAMMÄDAH BINT ÊżÄȘSÄ1
WIFE OF THE CALIPH AL-MANáčąĆȘR
I cite the trustee ÊżAbd al-WahhÄb ibn ÊżAlÄ« who gave me license to cite ÊżAbd al-Raáž„mÄn ibn Muáž„ammad al-ShaybÄnÄ«, who cites master2 Aáž„mad ibn ÊżAlÄ«, who cites al-កasan ibn AbÄ« Bakr as saying that AbĆ« Sahl Aáž„mad ibn Muáž„ammad al-QaáčáčÄn3 said: 1.1
I heard ThaÊżlab4 say:
When the caliph al-ManáčŁĆ«râs wife, កammÄdah daughter of ÊżÄȘsÄ, died, al-ManáčŁĆ«r and his retinue stood at the edge of the grave that had been dug for her and awaited the arrival of the funeral procession.
The poet AbĆ« DulÄmah was in the procession. Al-ManáčŁĆ«r turned to him and asked, âWhat have you brought us on this sad occasion, AbĆ« DulÄmah?â
âThe body of កammÄdah daughter of ÊżÄȘsÄ, Sire!â he replied, and everyone burst into laughter.5
2
GHÄDIR
âInconstanceâ
SLAVE OF THE CALIPH AL-HÄDÄȘ
JaÊżfar ibn QudÄmah writes:6 2.1
GhÄdir had the most beautiful face and voice and al-HÄdÄ« loved her intensely. As she was singing to him one day, a thought occurred to him. One of his close companions asked him why he was preoccupied.
âIâve realized Iâm going to die, and that my brother HÄrĆ«n will succeed me as caliph and marry my slave,â he replied.
âGod forbid!â everyone exclaimed, âMay you outlive us all!â
Al-HÄdÄ« summoned his brother and told him about his misgivings, and HÄrĆ«n did his best to reassure him. But al-HÄdÄ« insisted, âSwear to me that when I die, you will not marry her!â
He had HÄrĆ«n swear that if he broke his vow, he would perform the hajj on foot, divorce all his wives, free all his slaves, and distribute everything he owned as alms. Al-HÄdÄ« also had GhÄdir make a corresponding vow.
Less than a month later al-HÄdÄ« died. HÄrĆ«n was given the oath of allegiance, becoming the caliph al-RashÄ«d, and immediately sent an emissary to GhÄdir, asking for her hand in marriage.
âWhat shall we do about the vow?â she asked.
âIâll pay an atonement for all the vows,â al-RashÄ«d replied, âand perform the hajj on foot.â
So she accepted his offer and he married her.
Al-RashÄ«d fell so deeply in love with GhÄdir that he would place her head in his lap as she slept and would not move or shift position until she woke. 2.2
One day, she was asleep and woke up in a fright, sobbing.
Al-RashÄ«d asked what was troubling her, and she said, âIâve just seen your brother in a dream and this is what he said:
When the dead became my neighbors
the vow you took meant nothing to you.
You forgot me and broke your word
your vow was a shameless lie.7
Treacherously you bedded my brother:
âInconstanceââhow well they named you!
I spend my nights with corpses,
you spend your days with dark-eyed beauties!
Curse your new love!
Disaster strike you!
Drop dead before morning!
As I am now, may you be too!
âI swear, Sire, I can almost hear him now! His words are graven on my heart and I canât get them out of my mind!â
«Muddled nightmares!»,8 al-Rashīd replied, comforting her.
âNo, no!â she cried, trembling. Then she gave a shudder and died on the spot.
This happened in the year 173 [789â90].
3
ÊżINÄN, DAUGHTER OF ÊżABD ALLÄH9
âRestraintâ
SLAVE OF AL-NÄáčŹIFÄȘ10
ÊżInÄn was a poet and woman of wit about whom there is a written body of anecdotes. 3.1
AbĆ« l-Faraj al-IáčŁfahÄnÄ« mentions her in the Book of Songs. He writes: 3.2
Al-NÄáčifÄ«âs slave ÊżInÄn was a blonde of mixed parentage, brought up and trained in al-YamÄmah.
Al-NÄáčifÄ« had purchased her and al-RashÄ«d wanted to buy her from him. But ÊżInÄnâs notoriety and the fact that many poets satirized her prevented him from doing so, although he was quite besotted and infatuated with her. The story goes that al-RashÄ«d sent for ÊżInÄn and offered to buy her from al-NÄáčifÄ«, who named a price of one hundred thousand silver dirhams. Al-RashÄ«d agreed, kept her for a while, but then sent her back. Relieved, her master al-NÄáčifÄ« gave away thirty thousand dirhams in charity.
When al-NÄáčifÄ« died, she was sold for two hundred thousand dirhams.
ÊżInÄn was the first poet to become famous under the Abbasids and the most gifted poet of her generation. The major male poets of the time would seek her out in her masterâs house where they would recite their verses to her and have her pass judgment. 3.3
When her master died, ÊżInÄn was freedâeither because he had bequeathed her her freedom in his will or because she had borne him a child.11 3.4
Citing sources going back to MarwÄn ibn AbÄ« កafáčŁah, AbĆ« l-Faraj al-IáčŁfahÄnÄ« reports that MarwÄn said: 3.5
One day I ran into al-NÄáčifÄ«, who invited me to come and meet ÊżInÄn. We went to his house and he entered her room ahead of me saying, âLook, Iâve brought you the greatest poet of allâMarwÄn ibn AbÄ« កafáčŁah!â
ÊżInÄn was not feeling well and said, âI have other things than MarwÄn to worry about right now!â
Al-NÄáčifÄ« struck her with his whip and called out to me, âCome on in!â
I entered and found her weeping. Seeing her tears...