Abd al-Rahman al-Fazazi

Who is Abd al-Rahman al-Fazazi?

Abu Zayd Abd al-Rahman ibn Yakhlaftan ibn Ahmad al-Fazazi was a poet and mystic. He is especially well known for his Al-Wasail al-Mutaqabbala, a long poem in praise of the Prophet. It is commonly known as Qasid al-Ishriniyyat fi Madh Saiyidna Muhammad or simply the Ishriniyyat because it consists of sets of twenty rhyming verses for each letter of the alphabet. It was composed in Cordoba in the year 604/1207-8. Al-Fazazi is also the author of Epistle to the Sepulchre of the Prophet. The name Al-Fazazi refers to Fazaz the former name of the Middle Atlas region in north-central Morocco.