Hafsa bint al-Ḥājj al-Rakūniyya

Ḥafṣa bint al-Ḥājj al-Rakūniyya, a poet and teacher, was born around 1135 CE in Granada to an Amazigh family of noble origin. Though only seventy lines of her poems survive, she is one of the most celebrated Andalusian female poets.

Hafsa’s love affair with Abū Jaʿfar Ibn Saʿīd, of the Banu Saʿīd family, is documented throughout their poetic exchanges. Also a poet, he also served as a vizier for the Almohad ruler, Abū Saʿid ʿUthmān. Hafsa frequented his court and Abū Saʿid ʿUthmān began falling in love with her, which eventually pushed Abū Jaʿfar Ibn Saʿīd to flee to join Ibn Mardanīsh’s rebellion against Almohad rule in Al-Andalus. In 1165, Abū Jaʿfar Ibn Saʿīd was captured and executed. 

After his death, Hafsa lamented his loss through her poems and eventually withdrew to Marrakesh, where she began her teaching career by educating the daughters of Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb al-Manṣūr, the third ruler of the Muʾminid dynasty of Spain and North Africa. 

Hafsa died around 1190.