لسان الدين بن الخطيب
Ibn al-Khatib, who wrote histories and poetry in mid-fourteenth century, considered Muhammad III to have been ruled by conflicting impulses. Ibn al-Khatib told a story he had heard about Muhammad III's irrational cruelty: at the start of his reign, he imprisoned his father's household troops and then refused to feed them. This continued until some of the prisoners had to eat their dead colleagues. When a guard gave them leftover food out of compassion, Muhammad had him executed in such a way that the blood flowed into the cell where the prisoners were held. An unconfirmed allegation mentioned by Ibn al-Khatib said that he murdered his father. In addition to the cruelty, he was known to be a cultured man and like many monarchs of Al-Andalus, he particularly loved poetry. One qasida composed by him is presented in full in Ibn al-Khatib's "Al-Lamha".