Ibn al-Farid

Background

Ibn al-Fāriḍ was arguably the most celebrated Sufi poet in the pre-modern Islamic world, with his poetry admired across both Arabic and Persian speaking regions. The Persian poet Jami wrote a commentary on his poems, and Sa'id al-Din Farghani also authored a Persian commentary. His father moved from Hama to Cairo, where Umar was born. Some sources say his father was a respected farid (advocate for women's causes) or allocated shares in inheritance; these can be reconciled by interpreting his name to mean he often represented women in inheritance cases.

His father gave him a good foundation in belles lettres. As a young man, Ibn al-Farid went on extended spiritual retreats among the oases, specifically the Oasis of the Wretches (Wadi al-Mustad'afin) outside Cairo, but eventually felt he was not making deep enough spiritual progress. He abandoned his spiritual wanderings and enrolled in a madrasa studying in the Shafi'i school of law. One day a greengrocer performing ablutions out of order told him, 'Umar!

You will not be enlightened in Egypt. You will be enlightened only in the Hijaz, in Mecca…' The greengrocer gave him a vision of Mecca, and Ibn al-Farid left immediately. He stayed in Mecca for fifteen years, then returned to Cairo because he heard the same greengrocer calling him back to attend his funeral.

Upon his return, he was treated as a saint, holding teaching sessions with judges, viziers, and other leaders. He became a scholar of Muslim law, a teacher of hadith, and a teacher of poetry. He refused patronage from wealthy governmental figures, preferring the humble life of a teacher. Al-Malik al-Kamil, the Ayyubid sultan, liked his odes and sent him money and offered to build a shrine; Ibn al-Farid declined both.

Death and Burial

He taught at Al-Azhar Mosque and provided for his family, which included three children. He died in the Al-Azhar Mosque and was buried in Qarafah cemetery at the foot of Mt. Muqqattam under the al-Arid mosque. The burial was postponed because the grave was not completely dug; some said this was to 'chastise him for claiming such a high status in love' while others said it was 'merely the last indignity that one of God's chosen must suffer from the contingencies of the world below'. During the later part of his life, he entered spiritual raptures (jadhabat).

Did You Know?

• He spent fifteen years in Mecca, where he said enlightenment came to him 'wave after wave'.
• His son described his ecstasies as sometimes lasting ten consecutive days without eating or drinking.