Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi
Arab geographer, historian and poet (1213–1286)
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ibn Saʿīd al-Maghribī (Arabic: علي بن موسى المغربي بن سعيد) (1213–1286), also known as Ibn Saʿīd al-Andalusī, was an Arab geographer, historian, poet, and the most important collector of poetry from al-Andalus in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Biography
Ibn Said was born at Qal'a Benī Sa'īd (modern day Alcalá la Real) near Granada to a prominent family which was descended from the Companion of the Prophet Ammar ibn Yasir. Many of his family members were literary figures, and grew up in Marrakesh. He subsequently studied in Seville and stayed in Tunis, Alexandria, Cairo, Jerusalem and Aleppo. At the age of 30, he undertook a pilgrimage to Mecca. He was also a close friend of the Muwallad poet Ibn Muqana al-Ushbuni. His last years were spent in Tunis, and he died there in 1286.
Writings
Ibn Said al-Maghribi wrote or compiled 'at least forty works on various branches of knowledge'.
Ibn Said's best known achievement was the completion of the fifteen-volume al-Mughrib fī ḥulā l-Maghrib ('The Extraordinary Book on the Adornments of the West'), which had been started over a century before by Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥijārī (1106–55) at the behest of Ibn Said's great-grandfather ‘Abd al-Malik. Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥijārī completed 6 volumes, ‘Abd al-Malik added to them; two of ‘Abd al-Malik's sons (Ibn Said's grandfather and great uncle) added more; Ibn Said's father worked on it further; and Ibn Said completed it.
The public source identifies “Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi” as arab geographer, historian and poet (1213–1286). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sa'id, al-Maghribi and Arab.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 6, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3045396. VIAF identifies the subject as 27198358. The Library of Congress control number is n83172955. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1213, 1286 and 1106.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.