Arabic Language: ibn Zaydun and Wallada bint Almustakfi
Abu Alwaleed Ahmad ibn Zaydun Almakhzumi- an Arab Andalusi minister, and Wallada bint Almustakfi, an Umayyad princess, had a love affair that dominated their reputation. However, what made their story go down in history was that they were extraordinary poets.
Fine literary expressions can command great admiration from Arabs even when it's only partially understood. Arabic consists of 28 letters with five diacritics to each one, so it's as if it had 140 letters, but most words are based on a combination of three letters, sometimes four, that form the root. The diacritics are not necessarily written, as the meaning of each word is understood from the flow of the sentence and the grammatical positioning of the word. Not only that, but often, the same word with the same diacritics have two completely different meanings, and they can be mentioned together in the same sentence or piece and still be understood - that is one of the linguistic gems that poets bestow upon people.. wordplay at its finest.
Arabic is a rational language that enchants the listener without being fully aware of the mathematical structure of the sentence - its mystical beauty is what prevails. It is often thought that culture influences the language, but it's a two-way impact; language can influence its people. The idea of mathematics being in the shadows while simple beauty is pronounced is an element of the Arabian mindset. It can also be seen in Arabian architecture (read more here).
Arabic is rich with vocabulary but simple in its root system. The language is well structured, yet it's stretchable to satisfy people over thousands of years without needing to restructure their language.
When ibn Zaydun's daughter passed away, it was said that around a thousand people came to pay their respects to the minister at the funeral. Although he was devastated and completely heartbroken, he astonished people when he replied and thanked each person who came without repeating the exact phrase twice. His ability to come up with different words that expressed sincere gratitude to each person while being filled with sadness made him a literary legend. Language is an instrument of thought, and ibn Zaydun used that medium to showcase his brilliant mind.
After her father's assassination, Wallada, an incredibly proud Arabian Umayyad princess, decided to remain in Cordoba, where her family once ruled. She opened her palace to entertain poets and intellectuals alike in her literary salon and loved nothing more than to compete with poets and throw verses around to see who could complete the poem. Wallada had the brilliant idea of embroidering her clothes with her poetry in actual gold threads and walked around town for people to see her latest poems. A pretty sophisticated idea for the 11th century.