Pratical Information

Wallada bint al-Mustakfi, the Umayyad princess in Cordoba 11th century, broke norms by her independent spirit, mixing men and women in her salon to discuss literature, philosophy, and other subjects. She was a musician, poet, known for her love story with another Sufi poet, Ibn Zaydum. To express her spiritual liberty in her time, she refused to veil herself or even cover her head when it was the custom, as brave Iranian women defied the mullah's edict today. She reminds me of another great woman: Rābiʼa al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya or Rabia Basri, who was a poet, one of the earliest Sufi mystics, and an influential religious figure from Iraq who refused heaven or hell, aspiring only to be in the presence of the beloved.

 

Wallada figures among many great Sufi women like Fatima Al-Fihri (c. 800-880), who was a Muslim woman, scholar, and philanthropist who is credited with founding the world’s oldest, continuously running university during the 9th century: the University of Al-Qarawiyyin, located in Fez in Morocco.

 

So many Sufis, men and women, have deeply influenced this region and left their atmosphere for those who can tune their hearts to commune with them. This includes Ibn Arabi, whose first prominent female teacher was Fatima bint al-Muthanna, a gnostic woman from Seville.

 

Another woman, Muhja Bint Al Tayyani (1097) was a Sufi poet student of Walkada.

 

There are so many beloveds in this part of the world, like Ibn Hazm, Abu’l Hasan Al Shushtari (1269: all there is, is God, all is the divine), Ibn al-Khatib (Granada), Ibn Quzman (Cordoba), Abu Madyan, Al Shushtari, etc…

 

The whole land in Andalusia breathes the prayer of remembrance. Sufi devotees go to the tombs of Sufi saints and teachers, never asking anything for oneself but only to commune and join them in their continued prayer of remembrance that none exists save the beloved. This is truly joining the great caravan of lovers of the divine, united now with those before us and those coming after us.

 

As Rumi said, this is a caravan of love, lovers, and beloveds where all are welcome to join, after removing the sandals (nafs or ego) of the heart to walk barefoot in the light as the moth embraces the flame and becomes one with the beloved.

 

Welcome to Portugal and the Algarve, a land warmed by sun, blue sky, lovely people, good, healthy Mediterranean diet and a place to resource oneself, love, pray, dance and eat together in love, harmony and beauty.