The Sultan’s Anthologist: Ibn Abī Ḥaǧala and His Works
The ALEA Group organized a first conference on the topic "The Sultan’s Anthologist: Ibn Abī Ḥaǧala and His Works" at the Unibersity of Münster on April 1-2, 2015.
Ibn Abī Ḥaǧala (1325-1375) was born in Tlemcen, spent his youth in Damascus and settled later in Cairo. He was a recognized poet who composed mainly panegyrics and was proud of his religious poetry. As a prolific adīb he mastered the art of short picaresque prose narratives known as maqāmāt as well as the art of anthology. Ibn Abī Ḥaǧala is best known for his anthology Sukkardān as-sulṭān (The Sultan’s Sugar Box) and his collection on passionate love (Dīwān aṣ-ṣabāba) which he both dedicated to the Mamluk Sultan Ḥasan who reigned from 1347 until 1361. Yet, most of his work is still unedited and understudied.
The contributions have been published in vol. 3 of the ALEA-Series.