Mount of knowledge, sword of eloquence : collected poems of an Ismaili Muslim scholar in Fatimid Egypt : a translation from the original Arabic of al-Muʼayyad al-Shīrāzī's Dīwān / translated by Mohamad Adra ; with an introduction by Kutub Kassam.

Translated from Arabic.

Published in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-240).

Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction -- Kutub Kassam; A Biographical Chronology of al-Mu'ayyad; Diwan al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din da'i al-du'at: The Diwan of the chief da'i al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din; First Lines of the Qasidas;

A distinguished scholar, author and statesman, al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi (1000-1078 CE) lived during one of the most turbulent periods in Islamic history. The 11th-century was characterized, among other things, by an acute struggle for supremacy between the Sunni and Shi'a braches of Islam, represented politically by the 'Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates. Al-Mu'ayyad was originally a Fatimid missionary; but his outstanding intellectual and literary skills eventually gained him important positions in the Fatimid administration. Eventually he attained the highest ranks in the religious hiera