IBN AL-ABBAR

in full Abu 'abd Allah Muhammad Al-quda'i born February 1199, Valencia, Emirate of Balansiya [Valencia] died Jan. 6, 1260, Tunis historian, theologian, and humorist who became one of the most famous students of Islamic Spain. Ibn al-Abbar began his official career as a secretary to the Muslim governor of the Emirate of Balansiya. After the fall of Valencia (September 1238), he settled in Tunisia and was employed as the head of the chancellery by the Hafsid ruler Abu Zakariya' Yahya and his successor, al-Mustansir. While in Tunisia Ibn al-Abbar engaged in scholarly pursuits. His Tuhfat al-qadim, a major study of the Islamic poets of Muslim Spain, is particularly important. He was also a humorist and a satirist of considerable ability. Ibn al-Abbar's alleged disrespectful attitude toward al-Mustansir angered the ruler. The scholar's fall from power and subsequent execution may have resulted from a satirical poem that he directed against al-Mustansir.