Faridah al-Saghir (Arabic: فريدة الصغير, born c. 830) also simply known as Faridah (Arabic: فريدة) was an Abbasid qayna (enslaved singing-girl), who performed in the court of Abbasid caliphal-Wathiq (r. 842–847) and al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861).[1]
Originally a singing-girl belonging to the musician Amr ibn Bana, Farida was presented as a gift to Al-Wathiq.[1] She studied with Shāriyah, and achieved prominence at the courts of both Al-Wathiq and his successor Al-Mutawakkil. An admirer of Ishaq al-Mawsili, she defended his reputation when it was attacked.[2]
Faridah was also pupil of Fadl al-Sha'irah.[3] She was a excel lent performer. The meaning of her name Faridah was solitaire, she was mostly known as Faridah al-Saghir meaning Faridah the younger.
Al-Mutawakkil's only wife was Faridah. She belonged to the household of his brother Caliph al-Wathiq, who kept her as a concubine and favorite although she previously belonged to the singer Amr ibn Banah. When al-Wathiq died (al-Wathiq died as the result of edema, likely from liver damage or diabetes, while being seated in an oven in an attempt to cure it,[4][5] on 10 August 847),[6] Amr presented her to al-Mutawakkil. He married her, and she became one of his favorites.[7]
Ibn al-Sāʿī (2017). Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. Translated by Shawkat M. Toorawa and the Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature. Introduction by Julia Bray. Foreword by Marina Warner. New York: New York University Press. ISBN978-1-4798-0477-1.
