The life of Abu Medyen Shu'ayb el-Ansari, literary aspects of his works and sufi poetry

Abū Madyan Shu`ayb al-Ansārī (ö.594-1198), an Andalusian Sūfī scholar and the founder of the Madyaniyya order, lived during the Andalusian era. He received religious education from the leading scholars and teachers of the time. With his religious knowledge and experience, he became one of the most prominent personalities of his time, told people about religion and gathered many around him. He is regarded as the founder of the Madyaniyya order, currently present in Algeria and Morocco. Another name of the order is Shu`aybiyye order. Abū Madyan became famous during the Andalusian period and was the master of Ibn al-Arabī. He has works, sermons and more than fifty poems. Since the themes he addressed in his poems were divine love, repentance, isthighfar [act of seeking forgiveness] Islam etc., their genre was called Sūfī poetry. In the introduction part of the study, cultural, political and literary changes in the Andalusian period and some prominent poets of the period will be addressed. Besides Abū Madyan's life, works and literary personality, his poems will also be discussed in the first part of the study. Abū Madyan's poems will be analyzed in terms of theme, language and style and his poetic way will be presented in the second and third parts. Thus, the contributions of the Abū Madyan to poetry and literature will be discussed.