Safiyya al-Baghdadiyya explained

Safiyya صفية
Pseudonym:	Safiyya al-Baghdadiyya (صفية البغدادية)
Birth Place:	Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate (now Iraq)
Death Place:	Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Resting Place:	Baghdad
Occupation:	Arabic Poet
Language:	Arabic
Nationality:	Caliphate
Period:	Islamic Golden Age (Later Abbasid era)

Safiyya al-Baghdadiyya (ar|صفية البغدادية) was a Medieval Arabic poet writing during the 12th Century CE. This late period of the Abbasids has been called a Golden Age which 'created a liberal, but elite, society keen to enjoy Allah's earthly gifts'.^[1]

Career

The diwans (collected poems) of female poets were not as well recorded, and little is known about al-Baghdadiyya's life. Her poem 'I am the wonder' is collected in Abdulla al-Udhari's Classical Poems by Arab Women (1999).^[2] Al-Udhari notes in the book that 'Nothing is known about the poet'.^[3] The poem demonstrates al-Baghdadiyya's liberal outlook and remarkable self-confidence:

I am the wonder of the world, the ravisher of hearts and minds.
Once you’ve seen my stunning looks, you’re a fallen man.

References

1. Web site: Poetry Magazines - Classical Poems by Arab Women. ltd. codegent. www.poetrymagazines.org.uk. en. 2017-07-14.
2. Web site: Table of Contents: Classical poems by Arab women /. libweb.grinnell.edu. en. 2017-07-14.
3. Book: al-Udhari, Abdullah. Classical Poems by Arab Women. Saqi Book. 2017. 978-0-86356-047-7. London. 146.