Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify literary pictures of everyday life of lower-class Arab-Muslim women in urban contexts in adab books, relating them to the knowledge we have about them through other kinds of sources. The study has been mainly based on Ibn ‘Āṣim’s Ḥadā’iq al-azāhir, an adab work of the Nasrid period. However, in order to provide a broader scope, it has also been imperative to examine other adab books from the pre-modern era, composed in different periods and places. Altogether, we contribute with a number of texts and references not yet used in studies on the subject. Their analysis results in the conclusion that the literary representations contained in their anecdotes confirm the so-far available information on lower-class women, mostly originated from historical sources, as well as from law and ḥisba treatises. The particular interest of these anecdotes lies in the fact that most of their female characters belong to the popular classes and their behaviour in everyday life is clearly depicted throughout their plots. Regarding the physical places in which these women led their lives, in adab prose we can hardly perceive any separation between male and female spaces in the cities. Relevant stories show humble women performing diverse activities outside the domestic sphere and establishing relationships with men from inside and outside their homes.