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Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al Malik Ibn Saʿīd

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Died
  
1163

Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik Ibn Saʿīd (died 1163) is best known as a poet, and lover of Ḥafṣa bint al-Ḥājj ar-Rakūniyya (c. 1135-1191).

Contents

Biography

Abū Jaʿfar is said to have been taught by, amongst others, the twelfth-century poet Ibn Khafāja. He served as a prominent court secretary for the Almohad governor of Granada, Abū Saʿid ʿUthmān. "Unfortunately for Abū Jaʿfar, his powerful boss also fell in love with Ḥafṣa, and our poet's position in the ensuing love triangle seems to have forced him to flee Granada." Joining Ibn Mardanīsh's rebellion against al-Muwaḥḥid rule in al-Andalus, Abū Jaʿfar was captured and in 1163 executed.

Work

An example of Abū Jaʿfar's poetry, as translated by A. J. Arberry, is 'Wine, my Love':

References

Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik Ibn Saʿīd Wikipedia