Wallada bint al-Mustakfi was born in the late 10th century or early 11th century in Cordoba, Spain to Muhammad the III of Córdoba. When her father died, she inherited his properties and turned them into a palace and literary hall, where she offered instruction in poetry and arts to the women of Córdoba. In addition to offering places of education to women of all classes, Wallada was also a poet and scholar herself, who enjoyed participating in competitions where poets would finish incomplete poems. This Cordovan custom was traditionally limited to men but Wallada was recognized for her skill in these competitions. Because of her appearance, light skin and blue eyes, she was considered an exotic beauty and her refusal to wear a veil in public gained her further notoriety for her appearance. During one of the competitions, she met Ibn Zaydún, another famous poet at the time from a rival clan. The two fell in love but because they were from rival clans, they were forced to hide their relationship. Eight of Wallada’s nine poems were written about their relationship, which ultimately ended because of Ibn Zaydúns relationship with another individual. Following the end of their relationship, she met Ibn Abdús, a political rival of Ibn Zaydúns, who ended up seizing the possessions of her former lover and imprisoning him. They never married but Wallada remained with Ibn Abdús until his death. Her legacy lived on after her death in 1091 through her writings and her students, including Muhya bint al-Tayyani who went on to write a number of satires about Wallada. One of Wallada’s most famous writings about Ibn Zaydúns is still studied today in Arabic literature today - “When night falls, anticipate me visiting you. For I believe night is the best keeper of secrets. I feel a love for you that if the sun had it, it would not shine, nor the moon rise, nor the stars begin their nightly journey.”