Ibn Hamdis

Ibn Ḥamdīs al-ʾAzdī al-Ṣīqillī (Arabic: ابن حمديس الصقلي‎) (c. 1056 – c. 1133) was a Sicilian Arab poet. Ibn Hamdis was born in Syracuse, south eastern Sicily, around 447 AH (1056 AD). Little is known of his youth, which can be reconstructed only through a literal reading of scattered verses in his dīwān. His poetry displays a thorough mastery of the Arabic poetic canon, as well as a sophisticated linguistic knowledge, which points to an elite education. It is probable that Ibn Hamdis was raised in a prosperous family, likely landed gentry, who settled the Val di Noto early after the Muslim conquest of Sicily in the 9th century. Ibn Hamdis enjoyed the benefits and reaped the fruits of such privileged upbringing.

Ibn Hamdis

Ibn Ḥamdīs al-ʾAzdī al-Ṣīqillī (Arabic: ابن حمديس الصقلي‎) (c. 1056 – c. 1133) was a Sicilian Arab poet. Ibn Hamdis was born in Syracuse, south eastern Sicily, around 447 AH (1056 AD). Little is known of his youth, which can be reconstructed only through a literal reading of scattered verses in his dīwān. His poetry displays a thorough mastery of the Arabic poetic canon, as well as a sophisticated linguistic knowledge, which points to an elite education. It is probable that Ibn Hamdis was raised in a prosperous family, likely landed gentry, who settled the Val di Noto early after the Muslim conquest of Sicily in the 9th century. Ibn Hamdis enjoyed the benefits and reaped the fruits of such privileged upbringing.