Ibn al-Jayyab

Ibn al-Jayyab
Ibn al-Jayyāb al-Gharnāṭī; Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī b. Muḥammad b. Suleiman b. ‘Alī b. Suleiman b. Ḥassān al-Anṣārī al-Gharnāṭī; Spanish var., Ibn al-Ŷayyab, (1274–1349 AD/673–749 AH); he was an Andalusian writer, poet and minister from the Nasrid court of the Emirate of Granada in what is now Spain.
He was of Arab heritage descending from the Ansar tribe and was born in Granada, where he grew up and became involved with a group of distinguished scholars in that city. He died of the Black Death plague in Granada.
His substantial legacy of poetry and prose was posthumously collated by his many students, among whom was Ibn al-Khaṭīb, who succeeded him as vizier. He wrote his qasidas (poems) in a neo-classical style, and some still decorate the walls of the summer palace of the Nasrid sultans, the Alhambra.
Poetry and the Alhambra
Ibn al-Jayyab was one of three poets including Ibn al-Khatib, and Ibn Zamrak who had their poems etched onto the walls of the Alhambra, largely built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Ibn al-Jayyab's poems are etched into multiple areas of Alhambra including the Tower of the Captive (also known as the Qalahurra of Yusuf I), the Hall of Ambassadors, and the entrance of the Sala de la Barca. He created between ten and twelve mural poems.
In addition all of the poems in the Qalahurra are his, of which there are four. In these poems Ibn al-Jayyab uses badī poetry techniques as a way to help his contemporary Nasrid readers understand his poetry. Like many of the other poems in the Alhambra Ibn al-Jayyab's works often refer to the architecture on which they are written, in some of these poems he writes from the point of view of the building itself creating the idea that the walls themselves are speaking and not the author of the poem. Below is one of his poems from the Tower of the Captive:
Ibn al-Jayyab also composed a poem for a recently created Madrasa or university a few months before his death, though this poem was ultimately not inscribed there when the Madrasa was inaugurated.
Nasrid Court
Ibn al-Jayyab was a vizier of the Nasrid sultan Yusuf I. In addition he was the chief secretary of the sultan as well. It is recorded that when the Yusuf was going to create a substitute to himself he had Ibn al-Jayyab, in his capacity of chief secretary, draft the legal paper to have this done. It is also said that at times he would go against the sultan's decisions if he believed it to be the correct choice.
Relationship with Ibn al-Khatib
Ibn al-Khatib first came to Ibn al-Jayyab’s attention when he was a young boy and his father was a part of the Nasrid court of Granada. Ibn al-Jayyab personally taught the young boy poetry which he would continue to write throughout his life. Ibn al-Jayyab imparted his advice multiple times to the young man including subjects like court politics 'When Ibn al-Jayyab talked about how firmly he behaved with the sultan who had appointed him, even though he was very intimidating and authoritarian, he mentioned facts that showed his decisiveness. One of these cases was the following: The sultan ordered the release of a prisoner who the judge had imprisoned. But the Qadi, in the presence of the sultan, ordered the jailer to keep him in prison and threatened him if he freed him.'
Ibn al-Jayyab’s fatal contraction of the Black Death would have a profound effect on Ibn al-Khatib and cause him to study medicine and write a treatise on the plague. Upon his death his protégé would succeed him as the Vizier of both civil and military affairs for the Nasrid Sultanate. Ibn al-Khatib’s writings show great fondness and admiration for his mentor, and would likely go on to influence his relationship with his own pupil Ibn al-Zamrak. His works would eventually go on to adorn the walls of the Alhambra alongside his mentor’s.
References
Citations
Sources
Ibn Al-Ŷayyab, El Otro Poeta De La Alhambra, by Rubiera Mata, Maria Jesus ed. Patronato de La Alhambra, 1994
Etude d'une scenographie poetique: l'oeuvre d'Ibn al-Jayyab a la tour de la Captive (Alhambra) by Sophie Makariou, in: Studia Islamica, No. 96, Ecriture, Calligraphie et Peinture (2003), pp. XXV-XXVII+95-107
Bush, Olga. “Chapter 3: Qalahurra of Yūsuf I: A Case Study of a Tower-Palace.” Reframing the Alhambra: Architecture, Poetry, Textiles and Court Ceremonial, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2018, pp. 73–96
Rodgers, Helen, and Stephen Cavendish. “Chapter 5: The Nasrids Splendour and Decline.” City of Illusions: A History of Granada, Oxford University Press, 2021.
“Rulers and QĀDĪS: Their Relationship during the Nasrid Kingdom.” Islamic Law and Society, vol. 7, no. 2, 2000, pp. 235–255., https://doi.org/10.1163/156851900507634.
“The Eye of Sovereignty: Poetry and Vision in the Alhambra's Lindaraja Mirador.” Gesta, vol. 36, no. 2, 1997, pp. 180–189., https://doi.org/10.2307/767237.
SZPIECH, RYAN. “Chapter 55 Granada.” Europe: A Literary History, 1348-1418, OXFORD UNIV PRESS US, S.l., 2021.
Writers from al-Andalus
1274 births
1349 deaths
Scholars of the Nasrid period
13th-century Arab people
14th-century Arab people
14th-century Arabic-language writers
Viziers of the Emirate of Granada
14th-century deaths from plague (disease)