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QASMUˉNA BINT ISMA ̄^ ‘ ̄IL
Qasmu ̄ na was the fi rst known Jewish woman writer
on the Iberian Peninsula. She is believed to have been
the daughter of the famous eleventh-century poet,
Samuel Ha-Nagid (Ibn Narı ̄llah), the vizier of the king
of Granada and the leader of the Jewish community.
He apparently had four children, three sons and one
daughter, Qasmu ̄ na, whom he instructed in the art of
poetry. He reportedly often began a strophe and called
on Qasmu ̄ na to fi nish it, a form of recreation common
among medieval Arabic peoples. Indeed the fi rst of the
three extant poems by Qasmu ̄ na is a reply to a short
poem by her father concerning someone who harms his
benefactor. Qasmu ̄ na’s clever response compares that
person with the moon, which receives its light from the
sun and yet sometimes eclipses it. Tradition has it that,
upon hearing this, her father said she was a greater poet
than he was.
However, Samuel Ha-Nagid wrote his poems in
Hebrew, while Qasmu ̄ na wrote hers in Arabic. As a
Jewish woman, she had no access to Hebrew poetry and
certainly no audience for it, even if she had written it. On
the other hand, as a member of the court in Granada, she
did have access to Arabic poetry, as well as an audience
of like-minded women poets. Indeed, although Jewish,
she is considered one of the foremost Arabic women
poets of Al-Andalus.

Critics have pointed out some Biblical resonances in

Qasmu ̄ na’s poems. They also have underscored the fact

that her poems seem to alude to the importance of mar-

riage for women, a very Jewish concept. In effect, her

two other poems are laments about her loneliness. The

fi rst is about a garden which is going to waste without

a gardener. Youth is passing by and the only thing that

remains is something the poet does not dare name. In

the second poem, she compares herself with a deer in a

garden. Critics have commented that her father seems

to have been too busy to select a son-in-law. However,

one wonders if this is what Qasmu ̄ na was complaining

about. Obviously, she felt alienated, but her alienation

might have been of a more profound nature. Being the

daughter of a powerful Jewish offi cial in an Arab court

must not have been easy. Being a talented woman with

no outlet for her talent must have been even more dif-

fi cult. Qasmu ̄ na could be talking about her spiritual

isolation and the waste of her talent. The deer is a rest-

less animal meant to be free, not confi ned in a garden,

however pleasant. What Qasmu ̄ na does not dare name

could be her frustration.

Further Reading

Garulo, T., Diwan de las poetisas de al-Andalus. Madrid,

1986.

Sobh, M., Poetisas arábigo-andaluzas. Granada, n.d.

Cristina González