KHANSA (Tumadir hint `Amr, known as al-Khansa) (d. c. 645)  , Arabian poetess of the tribe Sulaim, a branch of Qais, was born in the later years of the 6th century and brought up in such wealth and luxury as the desert could give . Refusing the offer of Duraid ibn us-Simma, a poet and prince, she married Mirdas and had by him three sons . Afterwards she married again . Before the time of Islam she lost her brothers akhr and Moawiya in battle . Her elegies written on these brothers and on her father made her the most famous poetess of her time . At the fair of `Ukaz Nabigha Dhubyani is said to have placed A'sha first among the poets then present and Khansa second above Hassan ibn Thabit . Khansa with her tribe accepted Islam somewhat late, but persisted in wearing the heathen sign of mourning, against the precepts of Islam . Her four sons fought in the armies of Islam and were slain in the battle of Kadisiya . Omar wrote her a letter congratulating her on their heroic end and assigned her a pension . She died in her tent c . 645 . Her daughter `Amra also wrote poetry .

Opinion was divided among later critics as to whether Khansa or Laila (see ARABIC LITERATURE: §Poetry) was the greater . Her diwan has been edited by L . Cheikho (Beirut, 1895) and translated into French by De Coppier (Beirut, 1889), . Cf . T . Noldeke's Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber (Hanover, 1864) . Stories of her life are contained in the Kitab ul-Aghani, xiii . 136-147 . (G . W .