Hababah

Hababah (; d. 724), was a jarya slave singer and poet, concubine of the Caliph Yazid II.

Hababah was a slave, brought to the Umayyad harem of the Caliph Yazid II as a concubine. She was a non-Arab slave, trained in one of the schools for qiyan or singing girls in Medina. Yazid II noticed her during a visit to Hijaz, and his wife Sada bought Hababah as a gift for him for a price of 4,000 dinars.

The chronicles state: 'One day while Hababa was singing, Yazid experienced such great pleasure that he burst out: "I want to fly away!" Hababa told him: "Commander of the Faithful, if you leave the umma and also us, who will take care of us?'" The brother of the Caliph, Musallama, complained to him that he left his throne 'vacant'. Yazid initially refused to bury her and was so affected by her death he refused to see anyone for a week. He neglected his duties and died not long after. To his enemies Yazid's great love for her and sorrow at her death resulted in his name coming in disrepute for centuries before he was rehabilitated, and his neglect of state affairs caused Hababah to be considered as an enemy of God.