The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman

camp. There he exchanged greetings and introduced himself, and the men of the camp invited him to sit with them before asking what he needed. He explained, "Gentlemen, I come to you in need. I have seen you defer to this shaykh, and I understand that he is incredibly wise." Then Al-Harith sat closer to the shaykh, greeted him, and recounted his wife's vision.

 

The shaykh replied, "I see that yours is a special situation, and so the interpretation will also be uncommon. For if I am correct, based upon my knowledge of the holy books of all the great peoples, this woman will give birth to an extraordinary child, unmatched in his time for greatness, ethics, and good looks. Yet I fear that the mother will die when he appears safely in this world."

 

Al-Harith found the news generally positive. "The important thing is that he will live. His mother and I have seen much, and death comes for rich and poor alike."

 

Al-Harith returned to his camp with the shaykh and took him to meet his wife. He told her what the shaykh had said and asked her to recount her dream. Turning to the shaykh, she spoke in verse:

 

O Shaykh, by the Sacred Family,

 

By Mina, Zamzam, and the Maqam of Abraham,

 

I had an astonishing dream

 

Hear my words, and interpret my vision

 

I saw that I was in a great desert,

 

Spacious prairies surrounding me.

 

Beneath me was a tall sand dune,

 

My hem lifted, and my tears fell,

 

And from within me there came a fire

 

It flared and burned

 

In many colors, including black

 

It spread, burning the tent,

 

Burning the tribes and campsites

 

It turned, lighting up the darkness, and

 

I was terrified and afraid:

 

That is what happened to me in the dream.

 

The shaykh repl

not as a mere foil but in fact the star of the show. . . . By means of a dozen or so well-picked episodes, and in the uncluttered language of oral epic, Magidow s rendering . . . dare[s] us to think of women as expert fighters as well as wives and mothers. Newlines Magazine

An absolutely lovely edition . . . A really enjoyable read in addition to something you can use in the classroom . . . and understand how this fits in world literature. M. Lynx Qualey, Bulaq podcast

My book of the year . . . This is a super fun tale. . . . It is really interesting . . . in the ways it plays with gender and race. . . . If you re looking for a new primary source to get people interested in the Middle Ages in your classes, you really should consider this book. It really has a nice, interesting mix of societal commentary, fun medieval stuff, medieval warfare stuff, and different kinds of things that you couldn t get in, say, The Song of Roland. . . . It s something I think that people will want to read just in the same way that people like to read these Norse epics, like Egil s Saga or even the chivalric romances. . . . I ve read it twice now, and I ve really enjoyed it. Peter Konieczny, Medievalists.net podcast

A gift and a wonder, deftly capturing the nuance and flavor of these tales for a new generation. As someone who s waited untold years to read these stories: thank you, thank you, thank you. Jason Porath, author of Rejected Princesses

In her beautiful translation, Melanie Magidow captures the forceful yet melodic language of this epic. It is an epic that reveals the wisdom of women through the centuries while tackling issues of gender, color, race, beauty, courage, and war that are pertinent to our times. Indispensable to any library, it should be taught to generations of readers all over the world. One has to be grateful to Magidow for editing and translating it: not only does it contribute to the knowledge of humanity and promote acceptance and tolerance, but it is also a page turner and really fun to read. Reem Bassiouney, author of The Pistachio Seller

This powerful epic with its all-conquering heroine brings the world of Arab chivalry to blazing life, in a wonderful translation with a very informative introduction. Humphrey Davies, award-winning translator of Naguib Mahfouz, Elias Khoury, and Alaa Al-Aswany

By combining delightful, accessible prose with painstaking research and academic rigor, Melanie Magidow has brought medieval Arab history and its narrative traditions to life for a contemporary audience. Nancy Roberts, award-winning translator of Naguib Mahfouz, Salwa Bakr, and Ibrahim Nasrallah

Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman, Fiend of Bani Tayy, Paragon of Ambition, bursts from the pages of this book in glorious splendor, in this timeless tale of a woman s unwavering commitment to her ideals and beliefs in a hostile and patriarchal world. Throughout her epic battles against Arab tribesmen and Byzantine armies, this unconquerable warrior proves unwavering in her adherence to her code of conduct. Congratulations to Melanie Magidow, her intrepid translator, for such a deft, pacy, intelligent, and fresh translation. James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge

An emotive, dynamic rendering that exquisitely captures the spirit of the original text, the variety of its characters, and the versatility of its messages. The Tale of Princess Fatima has much to tell us about what it has meant in different times and places to be a hero.   Rachel Schine, University of Colorado Boulder

The iron Valkyrie Princess Fatima joins a whole cast of female champions out for blood and honor in this fluidly translated epic that is part battlefield saga, part chanson de geste, part family drama, and all heroine s journey, one worthy of inclusion with the great warrior women classics. Kevin Blankinship, Brigham Young University

Melanie Magidow s eminently readable translation brings to life the excitement and adventure of this female hero from the early medieval Islamic world. Fatima is a nuanced heroine who composes poetry, fends off potential rapists, wins battles, tricks villains, and governs her kingdom in a turbulent world. The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma provides us with a warrior, mother, politician, and strategist for the ages. Mary Dockray-Miller, Lesley University

This engaging and reader-friendly translation brings to life a very important moment in world history, capturing through epic proportions the timeless social issues of race, gender, and class. Heidi Morrison, University of Wisconsin La Crosse

Dr. Magidow s selection and translation of this timeless Arabic epic is a watershed event in the history of Arabic literature in the west. The translation is a work of art unto itself. And going against the grain of stereotypes and orientalism, the translation turns the perennial problem of patriarchy and hypermasculinity on its head and reverberates with themes in Shahrazad s stories, the poetry of Hujayja of the Banu Shaban, Rabi'a al-Adawiyya, and Wallada bint al-Mustakfi. Readers are generously rewarded as they witness the intrepid spirit of Fatima. Samer Ali, University of Michigan