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A review by atticmoth
The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman: The Arabic Epic of Dhat Al-Himma by Melanie Magidow
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Knowing nothing about this book, I picked it up solely for the cover. I had been stagnating on reading, nothing really grabbed me, until I started reading Princess Fatima, and realized that what I had been missing was reading weird old forgotten primary texts. Exhilarating in its own right, The Tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman takes on a new dimension knowing it was written in the 9th century. Even moreso than the life of Saint Joan, if I had an unlimited budget I would definitely want to adapt Dhat Al-Himma.
I was describing it to my friend as “If Hayao Miyazaki made Dune,” and I still think this is the best description because of the epic’s protofeminism. This is not to say it’s empowering in the traditional sense; the setting is still that of a very patriarchal culture, which is reflected in the story. It’s very real in describing this setting, containing some pretty upsetting episodes, but within the context of a medieval Muslim epic about a princess knight, it makes sense.
Melanie Madigow’s translation is loose, and she admits it in the introduction, so I am willing to forgive the liberties she took with the text. It’s an abridgment, as the original epic is more than ten times longer, but unfortunately the complete text has never been translated in to English. Madigow’s translation is actually the most complete English version to date, and despite the liberties it is an exhilarating and wild read. I just hope someone translates the complete epic soon!
I was describing it to my friend as “If Hayao Miyazaki made Dune,” and I still think this is the best description because of the epic’s protofeminism. This is not to say it’s empowering in the traditional sense; the setting is still that of a very patriarchal culture, which is reflected in the story. It’s very real in describing this setting, containing some pretty upsetting episodes, but within the context of a medieval Muslim epic about a princess knight, it makes sense.
Melanie Madigow’s translation is loose, and she admits it in the introduction, so I am willing to forgive the liberties she took with the text. It’s an abridgment, as the original epic is more than ten times longer, but unfortunately the complete text has never been translated in to English. Madigow’s translation is actually the most complete English version to date, and despite the liberties it is an exhilarating and wild read. I just hope someone translates the complete epic soon!