Wallada bint al-Mustakfi

Wallada bint al-Mustakfi (born in Córdoba in 994 or 1001 – 26 March 1091) was an Andalusian poet and the daughter of the Umayyad Caliph Muhammad III of Córdoba.

Early life Wallada was the daughter of Muhammad III of Córdoba, one of the last Umayyad Cordoban rulers, who came to power in 1024 after assassinating the previous ruler Abderraman V, and who himself was assassinated two years later in Uclés. Her mother is generally believed to have been an Iberian Christian slave, possibly named Sukkara al-Mawruriyaa. Her early childhood was during the high period of the Caliphate of Córdoba, under the rule of Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir. Her adolescent years came during the tumultuous period following the eventual succession of Aamir's son, Sanchuelo, who in his attempts to seize power from Hisham II brought the caliphate into civil war.

As Muhammad III had no male heir, some scholars suggest that Wallada inherited his properties, and used them to create a sort of literary salon in Córdoba. Some of the great poets and intellectuals of the time also attended. Some of Wallada's poetry was in free verse, uncommon at the time.

Only nine of Wallada's poems have been preserved. Eight of these are about her relationship with Ibn Zaydun.

In poems about Wallada, Ibn Zaydun describes her as light-skinned, light-haired, and blue-eyed. probably intentionally. Because of this and Ibn Zaydun's ties with the Banu Yahwar — rivals of her own Umayyad clan — their relationship was controversial and had to remain a secret.

Most of Wallada's surviving poems are those that were written about this relationship. Some of these depict Wallada in a relationship role traditionally held by men; for example, she wrote about undertaking "perilous journeys" to visit Ibn Zaydun, a conventional type of relationship instigation normally made by men. whom she accuses of infidelity with men, among other things. Surviving poems about this relationship suggest that it was not a happy one; in addition to poetic criticism from both parties, Ibn Zaydun also likely beat Wallada, and was not faithful to her. In one writing, it was implied that the relationship ended because of an affair between Ibn Zaydun and a "Black lover". Wallada suggests that the lover was a slave girl purchased and educated as a poet by Wallada herself, though others speculate that this person could have been a man. However, infidelity with Black lovers was a common theme in Arabic poetry, and so it is also possible that this detail was a literary invention.

Ibn Zaydun continued to dedicate poems to Wallada, and write extensively about her, for years after their separation.

In the videogame Crusader Kings 3 she appears as a playable character if playing with the Roads To Power DLC under the name "Mistress Wallada Umayyad". In the game she is depicted as the last of the Umayyad Dynasty and is granted a unique artifact called The Double Moon Tome, a book of poetry while having a unique trait, "Violet Poet".

In 2024, Spanish film producer Pedro Alonso Pablos released an animated feature film dedicated to Wallada and her lover Ibn Zaydun titled Abenzaidún y Wallada, amor eterno.