Ibn Jubayr

Abu al-Husayn Ibn Jubayr (539 or 540–614 AH / 1145–1217 CE) was an Andalusian man of letters, poet, and traveler best known for his travelogue recording his journey through Egypt, the Hijaz, Iraq, the Levant, and Norman Sicily Rihlat Ibn Jubayr+1.

Origin and Upbringing

His full name was Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Jubayr ibn Muhammad ibn Jubayr al-Kinani Dawlat al-Islam fi al-And…+1. His lineage traced to the Arab tribe of Kinana, descended from Damrah ibn Bakr ibn Abd Manat Rihlat Ibn Jubayr+1. His ancestor, Abd al-Salam ibn Jubayr, had crossed into al-Andalus in the army of Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri in Muharram 123 AH and settled in the district of Sidona al-Ihata fi Akhbar Gharna….

Ibn Jubayr was born in Valencia in 539 AH, though 10 Rabi' al-Awwal 540 AH is also recorded, while another report places his birth in Xàtiva (Shatiba) al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya a…+1. His father, Abu Ja'far, had settled in Xàtiva, where Ibn Jubayr grew up and began his studies Dawlat al-Islam fi al-And…+1. He was married to Umm al-Majd 'Atikah, daughter of Abu Ja'far al-Waqqashi, who served as vizier to Ibn Hamushk in Jaén Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l….

Education and Administrative Career

Ibn Jubayr studied the religious sciences, Arabic, Quranic recitation, and jurisprudence under his father, Abu Abd Allah al-Asili, and Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi al-'Aysh Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. He also learned Arabic from Ibn Yas'un and received transmissions from Ibn al-Hajj, along with authorizations (ijazah) from scholars including Abu al-Walid ibn al-Dabbagh and Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Isa al-Tamimi al-Sabti al-Takmila li-Kitab al-Si….

Distinguished as a skilled writer and calligrapher, he entered administrative service in Ceuta (Sabta) under the Almohad prince Abu Sa'id Uthman ibn Abd al-Mu'min, and subsequently served other Almohad dignitaries in Granada al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya a…+1. Later, he withdrew from court service and adopted an ascetic lifestyle Dawlat al-Islam fi al-And…+1.

Travels and Transmission

Ibn Jubayr made three major journeys to the East, performing the pilgrimage to Mecca during each of them al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya a…+1:

• First journey (578–581 AH / 1183–1185 CE): Accompanied by Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Hassan, he departed Granada in Shawwal 578 AH, embarking at Tarifa for Alexandria Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. He traveled across Egypt via Cairo and Qus, crossed the Red Sea from Aydhab to Jeddah, and reached Mecca, proceeding thereafter to Medina, Kufa, Baghdad, and Mosul Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…. In Mecca he heard hadith from Abu Hafs al-Miyanishi, and in Damascus in Jumada al-Ula 580 AH he read and heard al-Hariri's Maqamat with Abu al-Tahir al-Khushu'i Dawlat al-Islam fi al-And…+1. He also obtained authorizations from scholars such as Abu Muhammad Abd al-Latif al-Khujandi and Abu Muhammad ibn Asakir al-Takmila li-Kitab al-Si…. Returning across the Mediterranean via Acre and Sicily, he arrived back in al-Andalus in Muharram 581 AH Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l….
• Second journey (585–587 AH / 1189–1191 CE): He set out on 9 Rabi' al-Awwal 585 AH, prompted in part by news of Saladin's recapture of Jerusalem, and returned to Granada before residing successively in Malaga, Ceuta, and Fez, devoting his time to narrating hadith Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.
• Third journey (after 601 AH / 1205 CE): He traveled eastward again, residing as a teacher and hadith transmitter in Mecca and Jerusalem before settling in Alexandria Dawlat al-Islam fi al-And…+1.

Among those who transmitted from him were al-Zaki al-Mundhiri, al-Kamal al-Darir, Abu al-Tahir Isma'il al-Milanji, and Abu Tammam ibn Isma'il al-Takmila li-Kitab al-Si…+1.

Literary Output and Standing

Ibn Jubayr earned renown among his contemporaries for the elegance of his prose and verse, excelling in ascetic poetry and epistolary style al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya a…+1. His primary fame rests upon his travel diary, Tadhkirah bi-al-akhbar 'an ittifaqat al-asfar (known commonly as Rihlat Ibn Jubayr), in which he chronicled day by day the sights, monuments, and political conditions of the regions he visited Rihlat Ibn Jubayr+1.

Following the death of his wife, he composed a poetic collection titled Natijat wajd al-jawanih fi ta'bin al-qarin al-salih ("The Fruit of Heartfelt Grief in Eulogizing the Virtuous Spouse") Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Death

Ibn Jubayr died in Alexandria on the night of Wednesday, 29 Sha'ban 614 AH, at the age of seventy-five, as witnessed by Abu Muhammad Isa ibn Sulayman al-Rundi al-Takmila li-Kitab al-Si…+1. Other reports state his death occurred on 27 Sha'ban 614 AH, or on Thursday at the end of Sha'ban 615 AH al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyya a…+1.