Baha al-Din Zuhayr ( ar, بهاء الدين زهير; 1186–1258) was an

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

born at or near

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

, and became celebrated as the best writer of

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the ...

and verse and the best

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

of his time.

Life

He entered the service of Sultan Malik As-Salih Najm ud-Din in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

, and was with him at Damascus until the Sultan was betrayed and imprisoned. Baha' al-din then retired to Nablus where he remained until Najm ud-Din escaped and obtained possession of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, whither he accompanied him in 1240. There he remained as the Sultan's confidential secretary until his death, due to an epidemic, in 1258. His poetry consists mostly of panegyric and brilliant

occasional verse Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage. Term As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...

distinguished for its elegance. It has been published with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

metrical translation by E. H. Palmer (2 vols.,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, 1877). His life was written by his contemporary

Ibn Khallikan Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm bin Abū Bakr ibn Khallikān) ( ar, أحمد بن محمد بن إبراهيم بن أبي بكر ابن خلكان; 1211 – 1282), better known as Ibn Khallikān, was a 13th century Shafi'i Islamic scholar w ...

(see de Slane's trans. of his ''Biographical Dictionary'', vol. i, pp. 542–545).

Quotes

(translation: E.H. Palmer, ''The Poetical Works of Baha Ed-Din Zuheir'', 2 vols., Cambridge 1877, p. 34)

References

;Attribution * 1186 births 1258 deaths 12th-century Arabs 13th-century Arabs 13th-century Arabic writers Poets from the Abbasid Caliphate Scholars from the Ayyubid Sultanate {{MEast-poet-stub