Narjis was the mother of Muhammad al-Mahdi the twelfth and last Imam of Shi'a Islam and the grand-daughter of Bardas (The Byzantine regent).
There are two traditions regarding her ancestry, one saying that she is African while the other saying she is Greek.[1]
Her name has been recorded as Rayhana, Narjis, Sayqal or Sawsan in Shia's books.[2] There are a couple of narrations regarding the origin of his mother. One is that his mother, Narjis was a Byzantine slave.[2] Another narration says she was a black slave from Africa. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi states that names like Sawsan, Narjis or Rayhana were common names for slaves at that times and his mother name supports this narration.[3] Other narration says that she was a Byzantine Prince who pretended to be a slave so that she might travel from her kingdom to Arabia.[4][5] Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, in Encyclopedia of Iranica, suggests that the last version is "undoubtedly legendary and hagiographic".[3]