Ibn al-Farid, Abu Hafs Sharaf al-Din Umar ibn Ali ibn Murshid al-Hamawi, was one of the most famous Sufi poets. Most of his poems were about divine love, earning him the nickname “Sultan of Lovers.” His father was from Hama, Syria, and later migrated to Egypt.
He was born in Egypt in 576 AH (1181 AD). As a young man, he studied Shafi’i jurisprudence and learned hadith from Ibn Asakir. He then followed the path of Sufism and inclined toward asceticism. He traveled to Mecca during the months outside of the Hajj season and secluded himself in a remote valley. In this seclusion, he composed most of his poems about divine love, until he returned to Egypt fifteen years later.