ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the function of some of the akhbar as later narratives elaborated to absolve Layla Al-Akhyaliya of suspicions of sexual misconduct. It explores some of the akhbar surrounding Layla's poetry and life. Akhbar are narratives that frame the poetic text, purportedly providing the immediate context or occasion for the poetic composition. In many ways, Layla's poetic career is both unprecedented and unsurpassed. While the literary tradition has preserved the memory of some later professional female poets, none achieved Layla al-Akhyaliya's canonical status. Thus, Lavinia and Layla were both mavericks who capitalized on the urgent need of their respective crisis-ridden societies for tools for the manufacture of ideology. They both possessed powerful cultural—and hence political—weapons, which they skillfully employed to successfully trespass in a cultural marketplace that had hitherto been a male domain.
