Taqi al-Din Ibn Hijja al-Hamawi

Taqi al-Din Ibn Hijja al-Hamawi, a brilliant Hanafi man of letters, the gold of Syria. He was born in Hama in 777 AH. He worked in silk, tying knots, and composed folk songs, then turned to literature, writing prose and verse. He attached himself to the service of the deputy of Damascus, Amir Shaykh al-Mahmudi, and then came with him to Cairo. When Shaykh became sultan, he drew him close, made him one of his companions and intimates, and made him his poet. He rose in the state, and acquired wealth and dignity. Ibn Hajar said, "I have never seen anyone like the hafiz Ibn Hajar among the poets of the age," and then, "Shaykh Taqi al-Din Ibn Hijja." He composed his well-known "Badiʿiyya" in the manner of his shaykh Izz al-Din al-Mawsili, and wrote a full commentary on it of unrivalled quality. When al-Malik al-Muʾayyad died, a group of poets of his age turned against him and satirised him, because he was suspected of self-regard and his poetry belittled others, until he left Egypt and settled in his homeland, Hama.

He died in Hama on the fifteenth of Shaʿban 837 AH ¹.