The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman: The Arabic Epic of Dhat Al-Himma

A Penguin Classic

The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman is the longest extant Arabic epic, and the only one named for a woman--the sword-slinging Princess Fatima, a fearsome warrior known alternately as she-wolf, woman of high resolve, and calamity of the soul, who defeated countless male warriors in stealth attacks on horseback. The epic retells a part of the history of Arabic culture, beginning in the Umayyad period (seventh century) and ending with the Arab-Byzantine wars (twelfth century). The action begins in the Arabian Peninsula, and then moves north to the Arab-Byzantine border (present-day Syria-Turkey border), following the adventures of Dhat al-Himma herself, her son, and their posse of friends as they move back and forth primarily in the borderlands, with visits to Constantinople and to the caliph's court in Baghdad. The eponymous main character is the amira ('princess' or 'warrior woman') named Dhat al-Himma (which roughly means 'She of Ambition' or 'She of Resolution'), though she is far from the only warrior woman in the story.