The poetry of Shaykh Umar Ibn al-Farid is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Arabic mystical verse (Rumi, probably the best known in the West of the great Sufi poets, wrote primarily in Persian, not Arabic.) Ibn al-Farid's two masterpieces are The Wine Ode, a beautiful meditation on the "wine" of divine bliss, and "The Poem of the Sufi Way", a profound exploration of spiritual experience along the Sufi Path and perhaps the longest mystical poem composed in Arabic. Both poems have inspired in-depth spiritual commentaries throughout the centuries, and they are still reverently memorized by Sufis and other devout Muslims today. He was born in Cairo to parents from Hama in Syria, lived for some time in Mecca, and died in Cairo. His poetry is entirely Sufic and he was esteemed as the greatest mystic poet of the Arabs. Some of his poems are said to have been written in ecstasies. Every Friday, Cairenes gather at his tomb to listen to readings of his poems. Ibn al-Farid is referred to as sultan al-ashiqin, "the sultan of lovers".

Ibn Al Farid ابن الفارض، هو أبو حفص شرف الدين عمر بن علي بن مرشد الحموي، من حماة في سوريا، أحد أشهر الشعراء المتصوفين، وكانت أشعاره غالبها في العشق الإلهي حتى أنه لقب بـ "سلطان العاشقين". ولد بمصر سنة 576 هـ الموافق 1181م. ولما شب اشتغل بفقه الشافعية، وأخذ الحديث عن ابن عساكر. ثم سلك طريق الصوفية ومال إلى الزهد. رحل إلى مكة في غير أشهر الحج، واعتزل في واد بعيد عنها. وفي عزلته تلك نظم معظم أشعاره في الحب الإلهي، حتى عاد إلى مصر بعد خمسة عشر عامًا. توفي سنة 632 هـ الموافق 1235م في مصر ودفن بجوار جبل المقطم في مسجده المشهور.