Lubana bint Ali ibn al-Mahdi

Lubāna bint ʿAlī ibn al-Mahdī (Arabic: لبانة بنت علي بن المهدي) was an Abbasid princess, Arabic poet and the principal wife of caliph al-Amin. She was the daughter of Ali, a son of the third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi.

Lubana bint Ali ibn al-Mahdi
لبانة بنت علي بن المهدي
Consort of the Abbasid caliph
Tenure24 March 809 – 27 September 813
Bornc. 787/789
Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
DiedBaghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
Burial
Baghdad
SpouseAl-Amin
Names
Lubana bint Ali ibn al-Mahdi ibn Abdallah al-Mansur
HouseAbbasid
FatherAli ibn al-Mahdi
ReligionIslam

Ancestry

Her grandfather was al-Mahdi and her grandmother was Abbasid princess Raitah bint al-Saffah. She was the niece of Caliphs Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid.

Her grandfather al-Mahdi married Raitah as his first wife after his return from Khurasan.[1] She was the daughter of Caliph as-Saffah and his wife Umm Salamah, a Makhzumite.[2] She gave birth to two sons, Ubaydallah and Ali ibn al-Mahdi.[1]

Biography

Lubana was the daughter of Abbasid prince Ali ibn al-Mahdi and granddaughter of al-Mahdi. During the ending years of Harun al-Rashid's long reign many marriages took place between different members of Abbasid dynasty. Al-Amin is recorded as having two wives, Arib bint al-Ma'muniyyah, and Lubana bint Ali ibn al-Mahdi was noted for her exceptional beauty.[3] Lubana was the member of influential Abbasid dynasty. She married Al-Amin when she was seventeen or eighteen years old. This marriage was political important for Al-Amin because his half brother had married Umm Isa daughter of Caliph Al-Hadi. She was respected by her mother-in-law Zubaidah bint Ja'far. Lubana was also an Arabic poet.

However, Al-Amin died before the consummation of his marriage to Lubanah; her attested poetry includes a lament for his death: 'Oh hero lying dead in the open, betrayed by his commanders and guards. I cry over you not for the loss of my comfort and companionship, but for your spear, your horse and your dreams. I cry over my lord who widowed me before our wedding night'.[4]

Her husband was killed in 813, Very little is known about Lubana bint Ali ibn al-Mahdi after Al-Amin's death. She died in 820s.

The caliphs who were related to her are:

No. Caliph Relation
2 Al-Mansur Great-grandfather
3 Al-Mahdi Grandfather
4 Al-Hadi Uncle
5 Harun al-Rashid Father-in-law
6 Al-Amin[5] Husband
7 Al-Ma'mun Brother-in-law
8 Al-Mu'tasim[6][7] Brother-in-law

References

  1. Abbott 1946, p. 25.
  2. Abbott 1946, p. 11.
  3. Classical Poems by Arab Women: A Bilingual Anthology, ed. and trans. by Abdullah al-Udhari (London: Saqi Books, 1999), p. 120; ISBN 086356-047-4.
  4. Guthrie, Shirley (2013-08-01). Arab Women in the Middle Ages: Private Lives and Public Roles. ISBN 9780863567643.
  5. Gabrieli 1960, p. 437.
  6. Bosworth 1993, p. 776.
  7. Masudi 2010, p. 222.

Sources

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