My Torturess
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Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi (c. 927–1023): major Arabic prose writer and compiler of the anecdote collection, Kitab al-Imta‘ wa-al-Mu’anasah (Book of Enjoyment and Good Company).
Al-Tifashi 1184–1253): Arabic prose writer and author, among many other works, of Nuzhat al-albab fi-ma la yujad fi kitab (The Hearts’ Delight Concerning What Does Not Exist in Books).
Al-Tirimmah: the name of a seventh-century Arab poet who joined the group known as the Kharijites, those who “went away” from the armed forces of the fourth caliph, ‘Ali, after he had agreed to arbitration following the indecisive battle of Siffin (657).
Yaqzin: the torturess is punning on the meaning of the verbal root Y-Q-Z, which is connected with the idea of “being awake.”
Zarqa’ al-Yamama: a legendary, blue-eyed female figure from pre-Islamic Yemen, who was gifted with such sight that she could detect enemies a long way away.