Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Dabbi


Abū Ja'far Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Aḥmad ibn 'Amirah al-Dhabbī an historian and encyclopedist-biographer of al-Andalus who lived at the end of the twelfth-century during the period of Islamic hegemony in Spain.

Biography

What is known of the author's life is drawn from the text of his published work.
He says nothing about his country, but we believe that he was born in the village of Velez where he lived with his grandfather Ahmed, and that Ahmed ibn Abd 'l-Malik ibn Amirah was a cousin of Yahya, the author's father.
Adh-Dhabbi is believed to have spent most of his life in Murcia and Lorca; where from fourteen years of age, he began his studies under Mohammad ibn Jafar ibn Ahmed ibn Hamid, who died in the year 586 AH.
Adh-Dhabbi travelled to many regions of Spain and Africa, visiting the cities of Ceuta in Spain, and Alexandria in Egypt, where he found welcome among literary circles. Along his travels he met the philologist Abd al-Ḥaqq el-Ishbīli in Béjaïa, and fellow encyclopedist-biographer, Abu Ṭāhir Ibn 'Auf in Alexandria.

Works