Al-Khansa

Who was Al-Khansa?

Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥarth ibn al-Sharīd al-Sulamīyah, usually simply referred to as al-Khansā’ was a 7th-century Arabic poet. She was born and raised in the Najd region. She was a contemporary of Muhammad, and eventually converted to Islam.

In her time, the role of a female poet was to write elegies for the dead and perform them for the tribe in public oral competitions. Al-Khansa’ won respect and fame in these competitions with her elegies for her brothers, Ṣakhr and Muʿāwiyah, who had died in battle. She is the best known female poet in Arabic literature.