Sharaf-al-Din Abu’l Qasim ‘Umar Ibn ‘Ali al-Hamawi (known as Ibn al-Farid), Diwan, a collection of Sufi poetry written in verse and prose, signed by 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn Sa'igh, Egypt, Mamluk, dated 793 AH/1390 AD

Arabic manuscript on paper, 68 leaves plus 2 flyleaves, 19 lines to the page, written in naskh script in black ink, keywords picked out in red, catchwords, f.1a with an illuminated text panel, partially obscured, later brown morocco binding with scroll work borders and vegetal gold medallions

In reasonably good overall condition, pages slightly cropped, water stains to leaf edges and occasional other stains and smudges, some paper repairs, binding worn, as viewed.
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Ibn al-Farid, whose name means 'the son of the legal advocate for woman', was born in Cairo in 1181 AD. His father came to Cairo from Hama in Syria, and was highly regarded in the legal sphere. Ibn al-Farid is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Arabic mystical verse, and his two most celebrated compositions are the 'Ode to Wine' and 'The Sufi Way'. He lived in Mecca for fifteen years before returning to Cairo where he died in the Azhar Mosque, and was buried at the Qarafah Cemetery at the foot of Jebel al-Muqqattam in 1235 AD.

The are two copies of the present Diwan, one of which is dated 896 AH/1491 AD, in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (see A Handlist of the Arabic Manuscripts, volumes III & VII, Dublin, 1958 & 1964, pp.55 & 137 respectively. There are nine further copies in the British Library (see P. Stocks & C. Baker, Subject-Guide to the Arabic Manuscripts in the British Library, London, 2001, p.309, L.1). See also Brockelmann, GAL, I, 262; S. I, 462.