‘Ulayya was one of the daughters of the third Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–85), who reigned from 775 to his death in 785, and was noted for promoting poetry and music in his realm.
[1] Her mother was a singer (qiyan) and slave concubine of the Abbasid harem called Maknūna (herself the jāriya of one al-Marwānīya).
[4] 'Much of her poetry consists of short pieces designed to be sung; in the muḥdath style, it treats of love, friendship and longing for home, but also includes praise of Hārūn, the caliph, celebration of wine and sharp attacks on enemies.
She was wealthy and clearly possessed slave-girls, and had an intimate relationship with her powerful brothers; although there is little evidence of her communing with religious scholars, 'various reports in ‘Ulayya's tarājim refer to her piety and adherence to ritual obligations'.
She also composed love poems for her sister-in-law Zubaidah bint Ja`far, which was allegedly performed by 2000 slave women singers for her brother Harun al-Rashid.
[4] One of the best known anecdotes about her concerns her relationship with a member of al-Rashīd's palace staff, a khādim named Ṭall, with whom she would correspond in verse.