Ok, so today, having of course nothing to do current events, I'd like to tell you ab one of my favorite women from medieval Arabic sira lit: 'Aqisa, milk-sister of Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, smarter & better prepared than the men around her. Spoiler alert: they usually ignored her!
So, the Sirat Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan is based in pre-Islamic Yemen, and two unique things about it apply to my story: its extensive reliance upon the supernatural, and its large number of main female characters.
The siras often make an effort, if somewhat forced, to sound historical: but the Sirat Sayf loves to talk about other worlds, the kingdoms of the jinn, races of giants and sea-people, etc. 'Aqisa is part of this because she is a princess of the jinn
As for the women, I get into this more in my dissertation, but Sayf is unique in that his mother is a villainess. A hero w/out a mother's support is unacceptable in the siras, and so the narrators provide Sayf w/ multitudes of stand-ins: mostly his many wives, but also 'Aqisa
'Aqisa is the daughter of al-Malik al-Abyad, a king among the jinn. @aaolomi describes him here.
When Sayf is abandoned in the desert by his mother as an infant, 'Aqisa's mother finds him and suckles him at her breast to keep him alive. This effectively makes him part of their family, and thus 'Aqisa's brother for all intents & purposes (most importantly, they cannot marry)
(for more on this trope of hero foster mothers, see @RachelSchine's thread for Tweeting Historians here, and her article "Nourishing the Noble" in Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta)
Sayf is typical of sira heroes: he is brave, strong, and (mostly) good, but not very clever, with impractically rigid morals. This is why the heroes need a sidekick, w/ the moral flexibility & smarts to save them from themselves & from others. Usually the sidekick is a man.
But in Sayf's case, it is his foster sister. The first thing she does upon meeting her brother when they're grown is save his life, when he falls into a deep pit. She'd been watching him from afar making sure he was safe. After this, they are inseparable.
Whereas Sayf's many wives often have their own agendas, 'Aqisa's main goal in life is to be free. Her parents and society want her to marry an important jinn, but in helping her hero-brother, she finds a purpose they cannot contest. She flies him across the world...
...fights with him in battles, and most importantly rescues him, his wives, and his companions wherever they are in trouble. She also gives her brother good advice. He seldom takes it, but always regrets that decision in the end.
A good example is when Sayf spends time in the lands of the giants, & can't resist the many contests they challenge him to. 'Aqisa warns him not to trust them, but he refuses to leave with her & ends up engaged to a giantess who nearly kills him with her, um... enthusiasm
She is not a one-dimensional character. She is devoted to her brother and will do almost anything for him, but occasionally he goes too far and loses his best advocate temporarily. Perhaps their largest fight comes when he breaks his promise to give her magical robes he stole..
'Aqisa is furious, given how little she asks of him. She threatens to throw his sword into the sea if he doesn't hand over the robes. He still refuses, and she carries out her threat, leading him to threaten to kill her. By this point in the story, the reader knows he never will!
The biggest service 'Aqisa performs for Sayf, however, is an interesting one: killing his mother. Sayf's mother, as mentioned before, is a villainess. She's the main antagonist in the narrative, but Sayf can't bring himself to lose faith in her, exasperating the savvy 'Aqisa
When they finally capture his mother Qamriya, 'Aqisa says to him: "Oh Sayf, I know how many disasters she has caused for you, and I'd like to blast her from my hands so she'd be dead before she reached the ground. Then you could be free of her wickedness: what say you?"
Sayf equivocates, yelling to her as she hovers in the air, "Oh 'Aqisa, come down to me with her so that I can rid her from my heart first!"
'Aqisa responds, "I didn't hear you! You will never see her again in this world!" and drops Qamriya from miles in the air. One of Sayf's warrior wives, Tamma, rushes in with her sword to stop it, but 'Aqisa disarms her and throws Qamriya upon the sword, shouting, "O revenge!"
Sayf doesn't talk to his sister for days, but they eventually reconcile. After this, her role in the story mostly seems to be completed, and as Sayf gets old and settles down, so does she: she marries the jinn who has wooed her for years, and they have a son.
I hope you enjoyed the story of 'Aqisa! She's a great character: sassy, strong, and brilliant. And, of course, vastly underappreciated. The interesting thing is that the siras, supposedly written by men & for men, obviously intend this to be the case!
Oh and also, read @SAChakrabooks' series to revel in her character based upon 'Aqisa! And also just because it's one of the best SFF series I've ever read. It'll make you feel better even on the darkest of days. :)
