Quote by Safi al-Din al-Hilli: “A stranger is always a guest in a world that does not know his name.”

To live as a stranger in a place — whether through exile, migration, or simple difference — is to experience a particular kind of invisibility. You are tolerated as a guest but never fully recognised as a full person with a history and a self.

Safi al-Din al-Hilli lived through the aftermath of the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate and spent much of his life moving between courts in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. His poetry frequently returned to themes of exile, displacement, and the longing for home.

Arab poet born in 1278 in Hillah, Iraq, who is considered one of the most accomplished poets of the late Abbasid and early Mamluk period. He served at various courts across the Arab world and his poetry reflects extensive experience of travel, exile, and courtly life.