, a poetess with an admirable mastery of the arts of singing and composition. To these few examples of exceptional women, we should probably add the emblematic figure of a fugitive from slavery, Abū al-Hasan 'Alī ibn Nāfi' (m. beginning of Rabī 238 AH/May-August 852 CE), known as 'Ziryāb' (the blackbird) because of the colour of his skin and the softness of his voice. After fleeing from his master in Baghdad, this talented musician came to Cordoba where, rising to the top of society, he helped to bring the artistic and cultural influence of the Andalusian model of life to its apotheosis. His influence is still felt today all around the Mediterranean and as far as the borders of Ibero-America (Ibn al-Kūtiyya, op. cit. pp. 112-3).