. 658; Ibn
al-Munajjim, d. 626; Ibn Matruh, encomiast of the Ayyubites, d. 654;
Baha' al-din Zuhair, encomiast of al-Salih, d. 656; Ibn 'Ammar, d.
675; al-Mi'mar, d. 749; Ibn Nubatah, d. 768; Ibn Abi Hajalah, d. 776;
Burhan al-din al-Qirati, d. 801; Ibn Mukanis, d. 864; Ibn Hijjah
al-Hamawi, d. 837. Poets distinguished for special lines are al-Hakim
b. Dani' al, d. 608, author of the Shadow-play; and al-Busiri
(Mahommed b. Sa'id), d. 694, author of the ode in praise of the
prophet called Burdah. The poets of Egypt are reckoned with those of
Syria in the _Yatimah_ of Tha' alibi; a special work upon them was
written by Ibn Fadl allah (d. 740); and a list of poets of the 11th
century is given by Khafaji in his _Raihanat al-alibba_.

The needs of the Egyptian court produced a number of elegant
letter-writers, of whom the most famous were 'Abd al-Rahim b. 'Ali
al-Baisani, ordinarily known as al-Qadi' al-Fadil, d. 596, secretary
of state to Saladin and other Ayyubite sultans; 'Imad al-din
al-Ispahani, d. 597, also secretary of state and official chronicler;
and Ibn 'Abd al-Zahir, d. 692, secretary of state to Bibars I. and
succeeding sultans; he was followed by his son Fath al-din, to whom
the title "Secret writer" was first given.

In the subject of law Egypt boasts that the Imam Shafi'i, founder of
one of the schools, resided at Fostat from 195 till his death in 204;
his system, though displaced for a time by that invented by the
Fatimites, and since the Turkish conquest by the Hanifite system, has
always been popular in Egypt: in Ayyubite times it was dominant,
whereas in Mameluke times all four systems were officially recognized.
The eminent jurists who flourished in Moslem Egypt form a very lengthy
list. Among the Egyptian traditionalists the most eminent is
Daraqutni, d. 385.

Among Egyptian mystics the most famous as authors are the poet Ibn
al-Farid, d. 632, and Abd al-Wahhab Sha rani, d. 973. Abu'l-Hasan
al-Shadhili (d. 656) is celebrated as the founder of the Shadhili
order; but there were many others of note. The dictionary of
physicians, compiled in the 7th century, enumerates nearly sixty men
of science who resided in Egypt; the best-known among them are Sa'id
b. Bitriq, Moses Maimonides and Ibn Baitar. Of Egyptian miscellaneous
writers two of the most celebrated are Ibn Daqiq al'-id, d. 702, and
Jalal al-din Suyuti.

_European Autho