Al-Gassaniyya Explained

Al-Gassaniyya [1] was an Andalusian adība (woman of letters) and poet from Bayyāna, present-day Pechina, Almería, Spain.[2]

Few details remain in the historic record about this Arab poet; her surname, the last remnant of her identity, indicates she belonged to the Gassān clan and was from Bayyāna.[3] She lived perhaps during the height of economic and cultural splendor in Taifa of Almería, coinciding with the reigns of and . This would have made her a contemporary of Zaynab al-Mariyya, another Almerian woman poet.

She is known for writing panegyrics dedicated to the kings.

Only six lines written by al-Gassaniyya have survived: part of a romantic prelude to a likely much longer qasida about Jairán, the king of Almeria, that emulates the work of the famous court poet Ibn Darraj al-Qastalli:[4]

Did it sadden you to hear them say:"The palanquins of the women have departed"?How could you bear it, woe is you,when they left? There are but only deaths on their departure,and if not, a resignation.

References

  1. Ávila. María Luisa. 1989. Las mujeres "sabias" en al-Andalus. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. es.
  2. Web site: Garulo. Teresa. Al-Gassaniyya. 2021-02-17. Real Academia de la Historia. es.
  3. Book: Viguera, María Jesús. La Mujer en Al-Andalus. Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. 1989. es.
  4. Book: Janés, Clara. Guardar la casa y cerrar la boca : en torno a la mujer y la literatura. 2014. 978-84-16280-83-4. Edición en formato digital. Madrid. 946561623.