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I'm going to talk about the sahiqat (صاحقات) genre. In the pre-modern #Arab world this was the genre of sapphic or lesbian stories. It was regarded as the purest form of love because of how impossible it was.
Different than Western sapphic love stories, it re-affirmed their devotion to God. For example the most famous couple are al-Zarqa and Hind bint al-Nu'man.
@medievodons @histodons #history #medieval #medievalhistory #Arabicliterature
It was authored in the 10th c., but allegedly documents a pre-Islamic Christian couple. It's significant that the story ends w/ one of the couple vowing to become a nun and building a monastery in honor of her dead lover.
In this narrative it was her pure love that ultimately led to divine devotion. I am sharing b/c it is a different way to approach sapphic love.
I am linking a really good article which discusses this sort of love in English: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/262459/pdf?casa_token=bx8iFWNKr10AAAAA:S3Vq3ntoDwyDHSadWNQz0dK7siU8WEw-P6b08nnmPjTQ4AgKnxef-GyDNOb4FOBDQF2ofsnpaNw
@mariam_al_masri_author
Hey @ljwrites seems like something you'd be interested in.
@JessMahler Indeed it is! 
Hey @alpine_thistle Professor Boswell probably would have loved this, though it was a bit out of his regional/cultural wheelhouse. I told you the Arab world is where it's at when it comes to medieval queer studies! @mariam_al_masri_author
@ljwrites @JessMahler @mariam_al_masri_author RIP Professor Boswell, you would have loved the medieval Arab lesbians
@ljwrites @JessMahler @alpine_thistle Honestly there needs to be more research into queer studies and there used to be back in the 80s, nowadays there are a couple scholars into Arabic medieval sex studies so it gets talked about there, but I don't see as much talk about how queer the medieval Arab world was.
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