Abu al-Baqa ar-Rundi

Abu Muhammad Salih b. Abi Sharif ar-Rundi^[a] (Arabic: أبو البقاء الرندي; 1204–1285^[1]) or Abu-l-Tayyib/ Abu-l-Baqa Salih b. Sharif al-Rundi^[2] was a poet, writer, and literary critic from al-Andalus who wrote in Arabic.^[3] His fame is based on his nuniyya entitled "رثاء الأندلس" Rithaa' ul-Andalus (Elegy for al-Andalus), a poem mourning the Catholic invasion and conquest of al-Andalus.

Biography

He was born in Sevilla in 1204 and fled that town in 1248 and lived in Ceuta until his death in 1285.^[4] ar-Rundi wrote a handbook on poetry entitled al-Wafi fi Natham al-Qawafi (الوافي في نظم القوافي).^[5]

Notes

1. Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib gives his name as 'Abu at-Tayyib' in his الإحاطة في أخبار غرناطة, while Ahmad al-Maqqari gives his name as 'Abu al-Baqa in his نفح الطيب من غصن الأندلس الرطيب. The latter has become the common name, but 'Abu at-Tayyib' is probably the correct one as Ibn al-Khatib lived closer in time to the poet.