Prominent member in the court of Abbasid Caliph Al-Wathiq (r. 842–847).
Shāriyah (Arabic: شارِية, born c. 815 in al-Basra; died c. 870 C.E.) was an ‘Abbasidqayna (enslaved singing-girl), who enjoyed a prominent place in the court of Al-Wathiq (r. 842–847).
Shāriya seems to have been an illegitimate daughter of a Qurashī and was sold into slavery by a woman claiming to be her mother to the ‘Abbasid prince Ibrahīm ibn al-Mahdī, son of third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), and half-brother of the fifth caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) and the poet and princess ‘Ulayya bint al-Mahdī. There was later some dispute about the sale, as Shāriyah's alleged mother tried to claim that she was freeborn, in an effort to cash in on her daughter's success; but Ibrahīm retained ownership of Shāriya until she was manumitted during the reign either of al-Muʿtaṣim (r. 833–842) or al-Wathiq. Her greatest success was at al-Wathiq's court.[2]
Works
The most important attestation of Shāriyah's poetry and skill comes in the form of an account of a musical contest between her and her older rival ‘Arīb al-Ma’mūnīya (and their respective troupes of singing-girls) in Sāmarrā’, reported in Abū ’l-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī's Kitāb al-Aghānī. It probably took place in the reign of al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861). The description is also an important attestation of the activities of female musicians in ‘Abbasid courtly life.[3] According to the account, "at that time, the refined and well-bred people were divided into two communities – one supported ‘Arīb (‘Arībiyya) and the other backed Shāriya (Shārawiyya). Each party favored the singer whom they admired in terms of applause, ṭarab [climactic moments], and improvisation".[4]
The account opens:
One day we sat together at Abū ‘Isa ibn al-Mutawakkil’s, who had invited us for a morning drink. With me were also Ja‘far ibn al-Ma’mun, Sulaymān ibn Wahb and Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mudabbir, furthermore ‘Arīb and Shāriya and their singing-girls. We were all filled with joy, when Bid‘a, ‘Arīb’s slave-girl, sang:
O criticizing woman, you increase your stupid blame,
blaming me not for real fault or shame.
This song was by ‘Arīb. Then ‘Irfān sang:
And if my heart wants my beloved to separate, there are two advocates
pleading her cause deep in my heart: her braids.
This song was by Shāriya.
References
^al-Iṣfahīnī, Abu l-Faraj, Kitāb al-aghānī, Dār al-Fikr, 21 parts and Index in 9 vols., equivalent to the edition Kairo 1322/1905–5.
^Matthew S. Gordon, "The Place of Competition: The Careers of ‘Arīb al-Ma’mūnīya and ‘Ulayya bint al-Mahdī, Sisters in Song", in ‘Abbasid Studies: Occasional Papers of the School of ‘Abbasid Studies, Cambridge, 6–10 July 2002, ed. by James E. Montgomery (Leuven: Peeters, 2004), pp. 61–81 (p. 64).
