Publisher's Synopsis
The author of the Sukkardan, Šihab Ad-Din Aḥmad b. Yahya At-Tilmsani, known as Ibn Abi Ḥagala, was distinguished Sufi writer and poet. He was an important figure of the poetic scene in the late Mamluk era and became the favourite poet at the court of Sulṭan Ḥasan b. Muḥammad bin Qalawun after he wrote many books for him, including the Sukkardan as-Sulṭan.
The book is structured around two themes about the number "seven". The first four chapters discuss its relationship and superiority to other numbers. The second theme discussed are the various connections between the number "seven" and the Sulṭan. The volume contains a large amount of narrations and brilliant stories which the author himself considers to be elegant compositions and therefore suitable for a royal audience.
This wonderful intellectual journey can be considered a mirror of the cultural and literary sphere of the reign of Sulṭan Ḥasan and the late Mamluk period in Egypt and the Levant.
