Background
Baha' al-din Zuhair was born at or near Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Baha' al-din Zuhair was born at or near Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Baha' al-din Zuhair studied at Qūṣ, a centre of trade and scholarship in Upper Egypt
Baha' al-din Zuhair became celebrated as the best writer of prose and verse and the best calligraphist of his time. He entered the service of Malik us-Salih Najm ud-Din in Mesopotamia, and was with him at Damascus until he was betrayed and imprisoned. Baha' al-din then retired to Nablus (Shechem) where he remained until Najm ud-Din escaped and obtained possession of Egypt, whither he accompanied him in 1240. There he remained as the sultan's confidential secretary until his death, due to an epidemic, in 1258. His poetry consists mostly of panegyric and brilliant occasional verse distinguished for its elegance. It has been published with English metrical translation by E. H. Palmer (2 vols. , Cambridge, 1877). His life was written by his contemporary Ibn Khallikan.
