Ibn Hamdis was a Sicilian Arab

Siculo-Arabic

Siculo-Arabic was a variety of Arabic spoken in Sicily and Malta between the ninth and the fourteenth centuries. It is extinct in Sicily, but it has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta....

 poet.

He was born in Noto

Noto

Noto is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily . Its located 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding valley, Val di Noto...

, near Syracuse. When he was 31, his town was captured by the Normans and he was forced to move to Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, then still under Muslim control, at Sevilla, where he made friends with prince Al Mutamid

Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid

Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid was the third and last ruler of the taifa of Seville in Al-Andalus. He was a member of the Abbadid dynasty....

, who was also a poet. After the death of the latter in an Almoravid prison of Aghmat

Aghmat

Aghmāt was an important medieval Berber town in southern Morocco which is today an archaeological site known as "Joumâa Aghmat". It is situated approximately 30 km east of Marrakech on the Ourika road...

 (1095), Hamdis moved to central Maghreb (Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

) under the protection of prince al-Mansur

Mansur ibn Nasir

Mansur ibn Nasir was the sixth ruler of the Hammadids in Algeria .Under al-Mansur, the son of Nasir ibn Alnas the decline of the Hammadid kingdom began. Although he managed to conquer Algeria from the Almoravids with Bedouin assistance, he was unable to keep the unruly Bedouin tribes under control...

. When the latter died, he then moved to Madhiyya in Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

, as a guest of the Zirid

Zirid

The Zirid dynasty were a Sanhadja Berber dynasty, originating in modern Algeria, initially on behalf of the Fatimids, for about two centuries, until weakened by the Banu Hilal and finally destroyed by the Almohads. Their capital was Kairouan...

 rulers.

Hamdis thence continued to move in most of the Mediterranean Islamic countries until his death at Majorca in 1133. His works include c. 6,000 verses, many of them devoted to his lost Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

.