Medieval Arabic female poets are plentiful, despite their frequent marginalization in the Arabic literary canon. Although some critics assert that there has been 'an almost total eclipse of women's poetic expression in the literary record as maintained in Arabic culture from the pre-Islamic era through the nineteenth century,' this may merely reflect lack of critical attention to the many poets that exist. When one applies a comparative view, the abundance is obvious; for example, compared with medieval Europe, women's poetry in the medieval Islamic world is 'unparalleled' in 'visibility and impact'. Accordingly, recent scholars emphasise that women's contribution to Arabic literature requires greater scholarly attention.
Their work tends to be in two genres: the rithā’ (elegy) and ghazal (love-song), alongside a smaller body of Sufi poems and short pieces in the low-status rajaz metre. According to Samer M. Ali,
In retrospect we can discern four overlapping persona types for poetesses in the Middle Ages: the grieving mother/sister/daughter (al-Khansāʾ, al-Khirniq bint Badr, and al-Fāriʿah bint Shaddād), the warrior-diplomat (al-Hujayjah), the princess (al-Ḥurqah, ʿUlayyah bint al-Mahdī, and Walladah bint al-Mustakfī), and the courtesan-ascetic (ʿArīb, Shāriyah, and Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawīyah). Rābiʿah’s biography in particular projects a paradoxical persona that embodies the complimentary opposites of sexuality and saintliness.
The work of medieval Arabic-language women poets has not been preserved as extensively as that of men, but a substantial corpus nonetheless survives. Abd al-Amīr Muhannā named over four hundred female poets in his anthology. That much literature by women was once collected in writing but has since been lost is suggested particularly by the fact that al-Suyuti's fifteenth-century Nuzhat al-julasāʼ fī ashʻār al-nisāʼ mentions a large (six-volume or longer) anthology called Akhhar al-Nisa' al-Shau‘a'ir containing 'ancient' women’s poetry, assembled by one Ibn al-Tarrah (d. 720/1320). However, a range of medieval anthologies do contain women's poetry, including collections by Al-Jahiz, Abu Tammam, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, and Ibn Bassam, alongside historians quoting women's poetry such as Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Yaqut al-Hamawi, and Ibn 'Asakir.
The following list of known women poets is based on Abdullah al-Udhari's Classical Poems by Arab Women. It is not complete.
Mahd al-Aadiyya (Arabic: مَهد الءادية, c. 4000 BCE)
Afira bint 'Abbad (Arabic: عَفِيرة بنت عَبََّاد, C3 CE)
Laila bint Lukaiz (Arabic: لَيْلَى بنت اُكِيْز, d. 483 CE)
Jalila bint Murra (Arabic: جَاياة بنتُ مُرَّة, d. 540 CE)
Umama bint Kulaib (Arabic: أُمَامَة بنت كُلَيْب, C5–6 CE)
al-Ḥurqah (Arabic: الحُرقة, C5–6 CE)
al-Ḥujayjah, aka Safīyah bint Thaʻlabah al-Shaybānīyah (Arabic: صفية بنت ثعلبة الشيبانية, C5–6 CE)
Safiyya bint Khalid al-Bahiliyya (Arabic: صفية بنت خالد الباهلية)
Juhaifa Addibabiyya (Arabic: جُحَيْفَة الضَّبَابية)
Umm Khalid Annumairiyya (Arabic: أُمُّ خَالد البُّمَيْريّة)
Ishraqa al-Muharibiyya (Arabic: عِشْرَقة المحاربية)
Umm Jamil bint Harb (Arabic: أم جميل بنت حرب)
Hind bint ‘Utbah (Arabic: هند بنت عتبة)
Qutayla ukht al-Nadr
Umm Addahak al-Muheribiyya
Janūb Ukht ‘Amr dhī-l-Kalb
al-Fāriʿah bint Shaddād
al-Khansa (Arabic: الخنساء, d. 646 CE)
Fatima bint Muhammad (Arabic: فاطمة بنت محمد, 605–632 CE)
Laila bint Sa'd al-Aamiriyya (Arabic: ليلى بنت سعد العامرية, d. 668 CE)
Maisūn bint Jandal (Arabic: ميسون بنت بَحْدل)
Ḥumayda bint Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr (C7 CE)
Laila al-Akhyaliyya (Arabic: ليلى الأخيلية, d. AH 75/694×90/709 CE)
Dahna bint Mas-hal (Arabic: الدهناء بنت مسحل, c. C7–8 CE)
Bint al-Hubab (Arabic: ابنة الحباب)
Umm al-Ward al-Ajlaniyya (Arabic: اُم الورد العجلانية)
Umaima Addumarainiyya (Arabic: اُميمة الدمَيْنِيَّه, C8 CE)
Hajna bint Nusaib (Arabic: الحجناء بنت نصيب, c. C8–9 CE)
Raabi'a al-Adwiyya (Arabic: رابعة العدوية, 714–801 CE)
Laila bint Tarif (Arabic: لَيلْى بنت طريف, d. 815 CE)
'Ulayya bint al-Mahdi (Arabic: عُلَيّة بنت المهدي, 777–825 CE)
Lubāna bint ‘Alī ibn al-Mahdī (Arabic: لُبَانَة بنت علي بن المهدي, c. C8–9 CE)
Inan (Arabic: عِنان, d. 841 CE)
'Asiya al-Baghdadiyya (Arabic: اَسِيَة البغداديّة, c. C9 CE)
Zahra al-Kilabiyya (Arabic: زهَرْاء الكِلابية, c. C8–9 CE)
Aa'isha bint al-Mu'tasim (Arabic: عائشة بنت المعتصم, c. C8–9 CE)
Shāriyah (Arabic: شارِية, c. 815-70 CE)
Fadl Ashsha'ira (Arabic: فضل الشاعرة, d. 871 CE)
Zabba bint Umair ibn al-Muwarriq (Arabic: الزباء بنت عُمَير بن المُورَّق, c. C9 CE)
Juml (Arabic: جُمل, C9 CE)
Umm Ja'far bint 'Ali (Arabic: اُم جعفر بنت علي)
Arib al-Ma'muniyya (Arabic: عَرِيب المأمونية)
(797–890 CE)
Thawab bint Abdullah al-Hanzaliyya (Arabic: ثواب بنت عبد اللّه الحنظلية)
Salma bint al-Qaratisi (Arabic: سلمى بنت القراطيسي, c. C12 CE)
Safiyya al-Baghdadiyya (Arabic: صفية البغدادية, C12 CE)
Taqiyya Umm Ali bint Ghaith ibn Ali al-Armanazi (a.k.a. Sitt al-Ni‘m, Arabic: تقية أم علي, 1111-1183/4)
Shamsa al-Mawsiliyya (Arabic: ثَمْسَة المَوْصِلِيّة, C13 CE)
The Andalus Period (711–1492 CE)
Hafsa bint Hamdun (Arabic: حفصة بنت حمدون, C10 CE)
Aa'isha bint Ahmad al-Qurtubiyya (Arabic: عائشة بنت أحمد القر طبية, d. 1010 CE)
Mariam bint Abu Ya'qub Ashshilbi (Arabic: مريم بنت أبي يعقوب الشَّلْبي, d. 1020 CE)
Umm al-Kiram bin al-Mu'tasim ibn Sumadih (Arabic: أم الكر ام المعتصم بن صُمادح, d. 1050 CE)
Umm al-Ala bint Yusuf (Arabic: أم العلاء بنت يوسف, d. 1050 CE)
Khadija bint Ahmad ibn Kulthum al-Mu'afiri (Arabic: خديجة بنت أحمد بن كُلثوم المُعافرِيّ, C10–11 CE)
Qasmuna bint Isma'il ibn Yusuf ibn Annaghrila (Arabic: قسمونة بنت إسماعيل بن النَّغْرِيلَة, C11 CE)
Ghassaniyya al-Bajjaniyya (Arabic: الغسَّانية البجانية, C11 CE)
Wallada bint al-Mustakfi (Arabic: وَلاَّدة بنت المستكفي, d. 1091 CE)
I'timad Arrumaimikiyya (Arabic: أعتماد الرميكية, 1041–1095 CE)
Muhja bint Attayyani al-Qurtubiyya (Arabic: مهجةبنت التيابي القرطبية, d. 1097 CE)
Nazhun al-Gharnatiyya (Arabic: نز هون الغرْناطية, d. 1100 CE)
Amat al-Aziz (Arabic: أمة العزيز, C12 CE)
Buthaina bint al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad (Arabic: بثينة بنت المعتمد بن عباد, 1070–? CE)
Hind (Arabic: هند, C12 CE)
Umm al-Hana bint Abdulhaqq ibn Atiyya (Arabic: أم الهناء بنت عبد الحق بن عطية, C12 CE)
Hafsa bint al-Hajj Arrakuniyya (Arabic: حفصة بنت الحاج الركونية, d. 1190 CE)
Ashshilbiyya (Arabic: الشلبية, C12 CE)
Aa'isha al-Iskandraniyya (Arabic: عائشة اللإسكندرانية)
Hamda bint Ziyad (Arabic: حمدة بنت زياد, c. 1204 CE)
Umm Assa'd bint Isam al-Himyari (Arabic: أم السعد بنت عصام الحميري, d. 1243 CE)
