The Book
‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn Hamdis (1055-1133) was a poet of the medieval Muslim Mediterranean world who survives as the best-known figure from four centuries of Arab-Islamic civilisation on the island of Sicily. Though he achieved fame and success in his time, he was forced to bear witness to sectarian strife among the Muslims of both Sicily and Spain, and the gradual success of the Christian reconquest.
Today, his poetry provides us with a window on to the tumultuous times in which he lived, from his youth in Sicily to his professional formation in Seville, and finally to his return to north Africa where he witnessed and recorded the gradual decline of his beloved homeland under the Normans.
Today, his poetry provides us with a window on to the tumultuous times in which he lived, from his youth in Sicily to his professional formation in Seville, and finally to his return to north Africa where he witnessed and recorded the gradual decline of his beloved homeland under the Normans.
Additional Information
| Subject | Religion: Islam, History, Middle East |
|---|---|
| Series | Makers of the Muslim World |
| Pages | 176 |
| Imprint | Oneworld Academic |
Table of Contents
Notes to the ReaderAcknowledgements
Preface
Map of Ibn Hamdis's World
1 Born Under a Bad Sign
The Kalbids of Sicily
Muslim Sicily Unraveling
Born in Syracuse, Becoming a Poet
Education in an Early Jihadi Frontier
The Rise of an Indigenous Muslim-Sicilian Culture
Poetry in Muslim Sicily, From Philology to Art to Politics
Crafting a Poetics of ‘Homeland'
2 Dilemma: To Remain or Depart
Sojourn in Sfax: Maintaining the Ifriqiya-Sicily Connection
Asad ibn al-Furat: Muslim Sicily's Founding Father
Ibn Hawqal's Sicilian Chapter
In the Shadow of the Norman Conquest
3 The First Desert Crossing
Ifriqiya: A Divided and Turbulent Motherland
The Zirid Dynasty of Ifriqiya
The ‘Arabs' of Eleventh-Century Ifriqiya
On the Desert Highway: Traveling with Arab Companions
4 La Dolce Vita in Seville
The ‘Abbadid Kingdom of Seville
Muslim Spain and Muslim Sicily: A Comparative View
Elegy to a Father
Serving the Patron: The Political Panegyric
Court Poet as Court Functionary
The Looming Threat of the Christian Reconquest
Poetic Sparring: Poet as Client, Poet as Competitor
5 From the Dark Clouds of al-Zallaqa to a Second Exile
Confrontation at Badajoz: Enter the Almoravids
The Battle of al-Zallaqa
The Fall of the ‘Abbadids of Seville
6 1091: Annus Horribilis and the Second Desert Crossing
Intermission at Qal‘at Bani Hammad
Return to Mahdia
Connecting to the Zirids: Praise and Blame for Tamim
Vigilant Eye on the Norman Conquest
Ode to a Falling Homeland
Back to the Family in Sfax: Mourning the Loss of an Aunt and a Wife
7 The Poetics of Jihad: At the Zirid Court in Mahdia
At the Court of Yahya ibn Tamim
Revolt and Murder at the Zirid Palace
Breaking Ranks in Gabes
From Seville to Nicotera and Mahdia: The Almoravids Move East
Victory at al-Dimas
The Almohads on the Horizon
8 Time of Reflection: Aesthetic Verses and Arabs at the Norman Court
Retreat into Devotional Verse
Arabs and Muslim Culture at the Norman Court in Palermo
9 Twilight: Blindness, Loss, and Defeat
Losing Sight
Sicily Forever on the Mind
Elegy to a Nephew and Family History
Mourning a Daughter, Mourning a Homeland
Death and Burial
Ibn Hamdis's Legacy in History and Literature
Bibliography
Index
