ʿAbbāsa was a famous woman of the ʿAbbāsid court. She was a daughter of the caliph al-Mahdī and a sister of Hārūn al-Rashīd and al-Hādī. Nothing is known of ʿAbbāsa's life, as with most other women in medieval Muslim courts, and her fame stems from a story concerning her and Jaʿfar al-Barmakī—a story which purports to explain the murder of Jaʿfar and the overthrow of the Barmakids by Hārūn al-Rashīd. According to this story, which has been reported at length and in great detail by some sources, …