Ibn Nubata

For the 10th-century preacher, see Ibn Nubata (preacher).
Ibn Nubata
BornAbu Bakr Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ṭāhir ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Khaṭīb ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Nubāta
April 1287
Cairo, Egypt
Died14 October 1366 (aged 79)
Cairo, Egypt
OccupationPoet
LanguageArabic
NationalityEgyptian
Notable worksal-Qaṭr an-Nubātī

Abu Bakr Jamāl al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Sharaf al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ṭāhir ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Khaṭīb ʿAbd al-Raḥīm ibn Nubāta, better known simply as Ibn Nubāta (Arabic: ابن نباتة; April 1287 – October 14, 1366) was an Arab poet of the Mamluk period.[1] Best known for his poetry, he also wrote prose. His works are largely not, or not critically, edited to this day, but in 2018 Thomas Bauer was reported to be completing an edition of his al-Qaṭr an-Nubātī ('Ibn Nubātah's Sweet Drops').[2]: 41 n. 92  Research on Ibn Nubata's work is still in its infancy.

Ibn Nubata was the son of a Hadith scholar and from early youth his interest in poetry emerged in short poems he wrote. Born in Fusṭāṭ, in 1316 he left Cairo for Damascus and lived there until 1360, taking short stays in Hama and Aleppo. However, the Sultan An-Nasir Hasan ordered his return to Cairo.

Ibn Nubata, alongside Ṣafīddīn al-Ḥillī, was one of the two most celebrated Arab poets of the 14th century.[3][4]

Ibn Nubata died on October 14, 1366 (8 Safar 768 AH),[1] and is buried in the Qalawun cemetery of Al-Mansur Qalawun.

Ibn Nubāta was a seminal writer in the development of the epigrammatic poetic form known as maqṭūʿ: al-Qaṭr an-Nubātī is thought to be the first sole-authored collection of poems in this genre.[2]: 40–42 

References

  1. ^ a b Rikabi 1971, p. 900.
  2. ^ a b Adam Talib, How Do You Say “Epigram” in Arabic? Literary History at the Limits of Comparison, Brill Studies in Middle Eastern Literatures, 40 (Leiden: Brill, 2018); ISBN 978-90-04-34996-4.
  3. ^ "Ubi sumus? quo vademus? : Mamluk studies, state of the art | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  4. ^ Heinrichs, W. P. (2012-04-24), "Ṣafī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Sarāyā al-Ḥillī", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill, retrieved 2023-02-19

Further reading

  • Thomas Bauer: Communication and Emotion. The case of Ibn Nubātah's "Kindertotenlieder". In: Mamlūk Studies Review . 7, 2003, pp. 49–95. (online, PDF, 34.69 MB)
  • Thomas Bauer, “Dignity at Stake: mujūn epigrams by Ibn Nubāta (686–768/1287–1366) and his contemporaries” in The Rude, the Bad and the Bawdy. Essays in Honour of Professor Geert Jan van Gelder, ed. Adam Talib, Marlé Hammond, and Arie Schippers (Cambridge: Gibb Memorial Trust, 2014).
  • Thomas Bauer: Ibn Nubātah al-Misrī (686–768 / 1287–1366). Life and Works . Part I: The Life of Ibn Nubatah . In: Mamlūk Studies Review January 12, 2008, pp. 1–35. (online, PDF, 1.22 MB)
  • Thomas Bauer: Ibn Nubatah al-Misri (686–768 / 1287–1366). Life and Works . Part II: The Divan of Ibn Nubatah . In: Mamlūk Studies Review February 12, 2008.
  • Carl Brockelmann: History of Arabic Literature . Brill, Leiden 1996, ISBN 90-04-10407-0, I, p. 11f, II, p. 4.
  • Rikabi, J. (1971). "Ibn Nubāta". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, Ch. & Schacht, J. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Volume III: H–Iram. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 900–901. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3325. OCLC 495469525.