HAVE YOU HEARD OF… Rabia Balkhi 👸🏻 It is thought that she was born in 940 AD in the city of Balkh. But at the time a prosperous urban centre in the Samanid empire. Her father was the Amir of Balkh and she was very well educated in the arts and literature. She was the adored daughter of an indulgent and affluent father. Her contemporary Rudaki, the Samanid poet laureate is known to have been impressed by her eloquence and mastery of language and poet composition. Education for girls was not an unusual idea in the region of greater Khorasan, where the pre-Islamic traditions and cultures had continued well into the islamic era. And where daughters of the wealthy and noble received the same education in literacy and rhetoric as the sons. A non-mystic poet, her imagery was later transformed into that of a mystic poet by authors such as Attar of Nishapur (died 1221) and Jami (died 1492). She became a semi-legendary figure, famous for her love story with the slave Baktash. A romantic...