Delhemma

The full name of the work, as given in its 1909 edition, is Sīrat al-amīra Dhāt al-Himma wa-waladihā ʿAbd al-Wahhāb wa ’l-amīr Abū Muḥammad al-Baṭṭāl wa-ʿUqba shaykh al-ḍalāl wa-Shūmadris al-muḥtāl, or "The Life of amira Dhat al-Himma, mother of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, and of amir Abū Muḥammad al-Baṭṭāl, the master of error ʿUqba, and astute Shūmadris". The work is known by a series of other titles after the main personnages, including Sīrat Dhāt al-Himma wa-l-Baṭṭāl ("Tale of Dhāt al-Himma and al-Battal") and simply Sīrat Delhemma. ==Plot==

In its 1909 Cairo edition, the tale comprises 70 sections in seven volumes and 5,084 pages. The tale begins with the rivalry of the two tribes during the early Umayyad period when the Sulaym held command over both. It continues with the assumption of command by the Kilab and the participation of the Kilabite al-Sahsa in the campaigns of Prince Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik against the Eastern Romans, including the Siege of Constantinople (717–718), his adventures in the desert and his death. Al-Sahsa's two sons, Zalim and Mazlum, then quarrel over their father's inheritance. Mazlum's daughter, Fatima, the eponymous heroine of the epic, is abducted by the Tayy, among whom she becomes a fierce warrior and is named al-Dalhama. This is possibly the feminine form of the name Dalham ("wolf"), but is more usually interpreted as a corruption of the honorific Dhat al-Himma, "woman of noble purpose", which also appears in the tale along with other variants, the most common of which is Delhemma. At the time of the Abbasid revolution (ca. 750), the Sulaym under Abdallah ibn Marwan regained the leadership of the Arab tribes thanks to their support of the Abbasids. Through the intervention of Delhemma, the Kilab acquiesced to this change, and together with the Kilab, they participated in the renewed border warfare with the Romans. The Kilab settle in the city of Malatya, while the Sulaym take over the fortress of Hisn al-Kawkab. Finally, Uqba's treachery is unmasked, and in the last and longest section, he is pursued by the Caliph al-Mu'tasim and the Kilabite heroes across several countries "from Spain to Yemen" before being crucified before Constantinople. On its return, the Muslim army is ambushed in a defile by the Romans, and only 400 men, including the Caliph, al-Battal, Delhemma, and Abd al-Wahhab, managed to escape, but the amir Amr is killed. In retaliation, al-Mu'tasim's successor al-Wathiq launched a campaign against Constantinople, where he installed a Muslim governor and rebuilt the mosque first constructed by Maslama and al-Sahsah. The tale then describes the death of Delhemma and Abd al-Wahhab and the final days of al-Battal, who lived long enough to witness the resumption of Roman attacks later in the century. He dies at Ancyra, and his tomb remains hidden until the Turks (in some versions, the Mamluks) arrived and rediscovered it. == Analysis ==

Dating Although the sources on which the romance draws date to the 9th century and before, the earliest secure references to the tales of al-Battal and Delhemma are from Egypt in the mid-12th century, and the work in general was clearly written as a response to the impact of the Crusades. However, Henri Grégoire suggested that at least the basis of the tale of Delhemma must have existed before ca. 1000, as it is used in its Byzantine epic analogue, the story of Digenes Akritas. Narrative sources According to the French orientalist Marius Canard, the tale draws on two original traditions. The first portion, centred on the exploits of al-Sahsah and the early years of his granddaughter, the eponymous Delhemma, reflects a "Syro-Umayyad and bedouin" tradition, which includes typically bedouin elements in the tradition of Antarah ibn Shaddad, but combines them with the semi-mythical tradition that grew around the exploits of the real-life 8th-century Umayyad general Abdallah al-Battal, whose role is taken over by al-Sahsah. Historical references The romance purports to be an accurate history, but, as Canard comments, in reality this means an "often very vague recollection of a certain number of facts and historical personages, garbed in romantic trappings and presented in an imaginary way, with constant disregard for chronology and probability". Other influences are later still: the conflict for the headship of the tribes in Syria reflects the realities of the Ayyubid dynasty rather than that of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Crusaders and the Seljuk dynasty appear, while customs and manners are those of the Levant of the 10th–13th centuries. In general, according to Canard, the author or authors had a "very superficial knowledge of history and geography," although they "seem to be better documented on Christian practices, religious festivals and formulae", especially regarding the Eastern Romans. ==English translations and paraphrases==

• Abd Al-Hakim, Shawqi, Princess Dhat al-Himma: The Princess of High Resolve, trans. by Omaima Abou-Bakr, Prism Literary Series, 5 (Guizeh: Prism Publications, 1995): paraphrase. • Kruk, Remke, The Warrior Women of Islam: Female Empowerment in Arabic Popular Literature (London: I.B. Tauris, 2014): summary. • Lyons, M. C., The Arabian Epic, 3 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), III: paraphrase. • Magidow, Melanie (ed. and trans.), The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman: The Arabic Epic of Dhat al-Himma, Penguin Books (2021): partial edition and translation. ==References==