Fāṭima bint Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Jahḍamī (ar|فاطمة بنت أحمد محمد الجهضمي), known as Fāṭima al-Suqutriyya (ar|فاطمة السقطرية, Fatima the Socotran) and nicknamed al-Zahra on the model of the Prophet's daughter Fāṭima, for whom al-Zahra ('the shining one') was a popular epithet,[1] was a Yemeni writer and poet who lived on the island of Socotra in the third century AH (816–913 CE). She is thought to be the first known Socotran poet.[2]
Little is actually known about al-Suqutriyya. She is thought to have been born on the island of Socotra, during the third century AH.[3] She was a poet and was related to Sultan al-Qāsim bin Muḥammad al-Jahḍamī, the ruler of the Yemeni island of Socotra.[4] He was killed by Ethiopians who attacked the island. Al-Suqutriyya reputedly wrote a qasida to Imam al-Ṣalt ibn Mа̄lik, who had assumed the imamate of Oman in 273 AH / 886 CE, requesting help from him. The poem was sent by sea and found by a fisherman who passed it on to the imam.[5] The Imam sent a fleet of one hundred boats to Socotra, defeating the Ethiopian force on Socotra.[6]
Al-Suqutriyya died some time after the year 273 AH / 886 CE.
Al-Suqutriyya is known for the long poem attributed to her, addressed to al-Ṣalt ibn Mа̄lik. The opening of the poem runs
Al-Suqutriyya is considered a lost voice in Omani literature, whose work was re-discovered in the twentieth century.[7] In the assessment of Serge D. Elie, her poem
seems to be the first act of writing—or more aptly, discursive insurrection—attributed to a Soqotran, and as such it is the source of pride among Soqotrans. However, as this poem became part of popular ‘historiology’—that peculiar combination of orality and literacy, resulting into a synthesis of fact and fiction—the incident was believed to have taken place during the time of the Portuguese, and through a process of osmosis (as literacy remains a problem) has permeated the culture and shaped collective memory.
Al-Suqutriyya's story and her poetry featured in an episode of "History and Heritage (Omani Personalities Immortalized by History)" presented by Dr. Hamid Al-Nawfali for Al-Ru'ya TV.[8] This programme became controversial when it was aired in Socotra, because it claimed that Al-Suqutriyya was from Oman.[9] A resident of the island, Abdul Karim Qabalan, called on the television company to apologise. In 2016, the novelist Munir Talal published a retelling of the poem.[10]