Zuleikha

Zuleikha (زليخا, often spelled Zulaykha, Zulaikha, Zuleika) is a well attested literary female name in Persian, Ottoman, South Asian, and Balkan Islamic traditions. The name became prominent through medieval Persian storytelling and later poets and prose writers who expanded the Qur'anic Yusuf narrative by naming and developing the character of the wife of Potiphar. While the Qur'an (Surah Yusuf) recounts the episode, it does not record her proper name; the form Zuleikha is thus a later historical-literary attribution preserved in Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and related literatures. The traditional sense attached to the name is that of beauty, allure, and brilliance; in many languages the name connotes a famed literary woman. Related names and figures in the same narrative and cultural field include [[Yusuf]] and [[Zaynab]]. Zuleikha remains a respected, culturally resonant choice with deep literary associations across Islamic cultures.