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The most remarkable figure in the cultural
history of the Kingdom of Granada, a man who played an
important role in the politics of his time. He was the
last important scholar and scientist in the history of
al-Andalus. A poet, biographer, historian, physician,
thinker, and writer of a demanding prose, but rich in
erudition and witty comments, all the different branches
of knowledge he wrote about show the imprint of the great
man he was.
Born in Loja in 1313, member of a well
established family, he had a broad intellectual education
he took advantage of and which he developed with his privileged
mind.
He entered the court in the times of
king Yusuf I as a secretary. There he served under the
orders of Ibn al-Yayyab, who preceded him in the post
of vizier of the sultans' court during the first half
of the 14th century. Both, together with Ibn Zamrak, who
became Ibn al-Jatib's disciple, decorated the walls of
the Alhambra with their verses.
After Ibn al-Yayyab's death, Ibn al-Jatib
became the new vizier, a position which he maintained
after the sultan Yusuf I died, under the latter´s
son Muhammad V.
Muhammad's was a difficult reign, and
Ibn al-Jatib and the sultan himself had to live a period
of exile in Morocco. He made a good use of the opportunity
of becoming well-known for his intelligence in the local
court.
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Back in Granada, when Muhammad recovered
the power, Ibn al-Jatib political career reached its
peak. He was all-important in the court of the Alhambra.
But, partly due to his ambitions, and partly because
of the intrigues of the people around him, he saw himself
in a difficult situation. It became so difficult that,
pretending an inspection of the western border, he fled
across the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco and never
came back.
When he was absent, his foes brought against him charges
of every kind, from political to religious ones. Some
of his writings were burnt, and, eventually, the court
of Granada could have him imprisoned in Morocco. He
was killed while being in prison, in 1375.
He wrote over sixty works on historical,
religious, philosophic and medical themes. His writings
constitute an essential source of information about
the nazari kingdom, its men and their history, their
characters and habits, and about its geographical features.
One of his works contains a valuable first hand testimony
of a royal party held in the Palace of the Alhambra,
describing dresses, decoration, protocol, food served
and numberless curious details. It is a lively, direct
vision of the palace´s inner life. As a poet,
besides edited works, he left us part of his verses
engraved on the walls of that Alhambra he knew so well.
One the poems, at the entrance of the Salón de
Embajadores, begins as follows:
"I beat the beauties in grace
and crown;
down come to me the zodiac signs"
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Entomology
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jataba:
(raíz)
jatib:
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predicar, pronunciar un sermón
(especialmente el viernes en la mezquita,
haciendo invocaciones en favor del soberano
reinante)
pedir la mano de...
prometerse a...
hacerse novio de...
pretendiente, novio,
prometido
predicador, orador, conferenciante
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