Umm Al-Kiram

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Umm al-Kirām bint al-Mut'asim b. Sumādih
BornLate 11th century
Almería, Al-Andalus (now Andalusia, Spain)
OccupationPoet, Princess
LanguageArabic
NationalityAndalusian
Notable worksLove poems dedicated to as-Samar

Umm al-Kirām bint al-Mut'asim b. Sumādih (Arabic : أم الكرام بنت المعتصم ابن صُمادح, late 11th century) was a princess and Andalusian poet, daughter of Abu Yahyà Muhammad ben Ma'n, al-Mutasim, king of the Taifa of Almería (which currently corresponds to the province of Almería, Andalusia, Spain).

Belonging to the dynasty of the Banu Sumadih, she had three brothers who were also poets, two of which were: Raf al-Dawla and Ubayd Allah. [1]

Ibn Idhari claims that the intelligence of the princess was so surprising that her father raised her with her brothers, surpassing all in the art of poetic composition. This author refers to the only literary works that remain from the princess, love poems dedicated to as-Samar, a eunuch of great beauty originating in Denia, taking part in the government of the kingdom, which allowed him to be near Princess. When the father of Umm al-Kiram, King Abu Yahya, knew of the affair between the two, he had the eunuch murdered. [2]

Her most famous poem is as follows:

Marvelously, friends,
of what has harvested a burning passion
therefore not for that, there would be lowered,
accompanied by the moon, the night,
from the highest heaven to Earth.
My passion is that I love in such a way
that if I broke up, my heart would follow him.

Oh, I wish I knew.

If there is a way to be alone together
which do not reach the ears of the spy.
How wonderful
I want to be alone with my beloved
living, even when it is in my gut and in my chest. [3]

Related Research Articles

The Abbadid dynasty or Abbadids was an Arab dynasty from the tribe of Banu Lakhm of al-Hirah, which ruled the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus following the fall of the Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. After the collapse, they were the most powerful Taifa and before long absorbed most of the others. Abbadid rule lasted from about 1023 until 1091, but during the short period of its existence it exhibited singular energy and typified its time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad</span> Last ruler of the taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus and poet (1040-1095) (r. c.1069-1091)

Al-Mu'tamid Muhammad ibn Abbad al-Lakhmi, also known as Abbad III, was the third and last ruler of the Taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus, as well as a renowned poet. He was the final ruler of the Arab Abbadid dynasty of Seville, before being deposed by the Almoravids in 1091.

The Banu Sumadih were an 11th-century Arab dynasty that ruled the Moorish Taifa of Almería in Al-Andalus. The family also produced several renowned poets, including Umm Al-Kiram.

The Aftasid dynasty was an Arabized Iberian-Berber dynasty that ruled the Taifa of Badajoz in Al-Andalus.

The Banu Tujib, the Tujibids or Banu al-Muhajir, were an Arab dynasty on the Upper March of Al-Andalus active from the ninth to the eleventh centuries. They were given control of Zaragoza and Calatayud by the Umayyads as a counterweight to the independence-minded Muwallad nobility of the region. In Zaragoza, they developed a degree of autonomy that served as the precursor to their establishment of an independent Taifa of Zaragoza after the collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba. They ruled this taifa from 1018 until they were expelled by another Arab dynasty, the Banu Hud, in 1039. An exiled junior line of the family, known as the Banu Sumadih, established themselves as rulers of the Taifa of Almería, which they held for three generations, until 1090.

The 1066 Granada massacre took place on 30 December 1066 when a Muslim mob stormed the royal palace in Granada, in the Taifa of Granada, killed and crucified the Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela, and massacred much of the Jewish population of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Hud</span>

Abū ’Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn Hūd al-Judhamī, commonly known as Ibn Hud, was a taifa emir who controlled much of al-Andalus from 1228 to 1238. He was a descendant of the Hudid dynasty which ruled the Taifa of Zaragoza until 1118.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taifa of Seville</span> Muslim State ruled by Abbadids (1023–1091)

The Taifa of Seville was an Arab kingdom which was ruled by the Abbadid dynasty. It was established in 1023 and lasted until 1091, in what is today southern Spain and Portugal. It gained independence from the Caliphate of Cordoba and it expanded the territory it ruled in the mid-11th century. The emerging power of Castile led Seville to ask military assistance from the Almoravids, who then occupied Seville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taifa of Almería</span>

The Taifa of Almería was a Muslim medieval Arab kingdom located in what is now the province of Almería in Spain. The taifa originated in 1012 and lasted until 1091.

Abū ‘Āmir Ibn Gharsīyah al-Bashkunsī, popularly known as Ibn Gharsiya or Ibn García, was a Muwallad poet and katib (writer) in the Taifa court in Denia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taifa of Toledo</span>

The Taifa of Toledo was an islamic polity (taifa) located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula in the high middle ages. It was ruled by the Dhulnunids, a Hawwara Berber clan. It emerged after 1018 upon the fracturing of the Caliphate of Córdoba, when the Dhulnunids, already strong in the lands of Santaver, Cuenca, Huete and Uclés, seized control over the city of Toledo, the capital of the Middle March of Al-Andalus. Upon later territorial conquest, the taifa also expanded to the land of Calatrava. It lasted until the Christian conquest of Toledo in 1085.

Al-Udri or Al-Udhri, was an Arab Geographer, traveler and historian of al-Andalus. He hailed from the Arab tribe of Udra which had settled Almería.

Al-Tighnari was an Andalusian Arab Muslim agronomist, botanist, poet, traveler, and physician. Al-Tighnari wrote a treatise on agronomy called Zuhrat al-Bustān wa-Nuzhat al-Adhhān. In the book, he described his journey to the Middle East and shared his observations on agriculture and other topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taifa of Murcia</span>

The Taifa of Murcia was an Arab taifa of medieval Al-Andalus, in what is now southern Spain. It became independent as a taifa centered on the Moorish city of Murcia after the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba. The Moorish Taifa of Murcia included Albacete and part of Almería as well.

E'etemad al-Rumaikiyya was an Andalusian poet, consort of Emir Al-Mu'tamid of Seville. She is believed to have been born between 1045 and 1047.

In the surviving historical record, medieval Arabic female poets are few compared with the number of known male Arabic-language poets. Within Arabic literature, there has been "an almost total eclipse of women's poetic expression in the literary record as maintained in Arabic culture from the pre-Islamic era through the nineteenth century". However, there is evidence that, compared with the medieval poetry of Europe, women's poetry in the medieval Islamic world was "unparalleled" in "visibility and impact". Accordingly, since the beginning of the twenty-first century, scholars have emphasised that women's contribution to Arabic literature requires greater scholarly attention.

Abu Umar Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Asi ibn Ahmad ibn Sulayman ibn Isa ibn Darraj al-Qastalli was an Andalusi poet of Berber origin. He was an author of courtly poetry for the Córdoban military leader Almanzor and after 1018, for the rulers of the Taifa of Zaragoza. He is mentioned by the Muslim philosopher Al-Tha'alibi in his work Kitāb Yatīmat saying "He was for the country Andalus that which al-Mutanabbi was for Syria, a poet of the highest order, and equally elegant in what he said and wrote."

Al-Gassaniyya was an Andalusian adība and poet from Bayyāna, present-day Pechina, Almería, Spain.

Zaynab al-Mariyya was an adība and poet, most likely born in Almería, Andalusia, Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hispano-Arabic homoerotic poetry</span>

There is a recurrent presence of homoerotic poems in Hispano-Arabic poetry. Erotic literature, often of the highest quality, flourished in Islamic culture at a time when homosexuality, introduced as a cultural refinement in Umayyad culture, played an important role.

References

  1. Homar Vives, N. "Genealogy of the Taifa Kingdoms". Homar (in Spanish).
  2. Garulo, T (1086). Diwan de las Poetisas de Al-Andalus. Madrid: Hiperión.
  3. Irisarri, A; Lasala, M (1998). Moras y cristianas. Madrid: Emecé Editoriales.

Further reading