Laylà bint Ṭarif's Rithā': An Example of Khariji Female Poetry

This paper analyzes the literary production related to one of the most important Khāriji rebellions during the ‎Abbasid age. In 794/795 the Khārijī chief al-Walīd b. al-Tarīf was able to dominate much of the Jazīra ‎area, successfully opposing to Harūn al-Rashīd’s government. The caliph sent against him the beduin chief ‎Yazīd b. Mazyad al-Shaybānī, who defeated the rebels and killed al-Walīd. ‎ Tradition has transmitted several recordings of the battle; some sources mention also al-Walīd’s sister, ‎Fā‘ria or Laylā, to whom several pieces of rithā’ over her dead brother are ascribed. ‎ The present study aims at collecting and organizing the materials from Arabic sources on al-Walīd and his ‎battle against Yazid, through analysis and comparison of texts. It will focus on Fā‘ria/ Layla and analyse ‎the different versions of her fragments, which represent an example of Khārijī female poetry during the ‎‎‘Abbasid age. ‎