عبد الملك بن حبيب

عبد الملك بن حبيب

Abd al-Malik b. Habib, Cordoba's scholar who carried his learning east in a stuffed bookbag — his reported answer to the scorners of his small frame: pearls lie unlooked-for in dung-heaps 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
al-Andalus & Europe
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Overview

Abd al-Malik ibn Habib was one of the scholars of al-Andalus in his time, and al-Maqqari mentions him in «Nafh al-tib». 2

His journey to the East

Al-Maqqari reports from Ibn Wadah, from Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir, that he came to the East carrying a saddlebag full of books and said: "This is your knowledge", meaning books he had heard from him by licence. 2 It is also reported that he answered those who looked down on him for his small body with verses in which he says that an observer should look not at a man's body but at what his chest holds. 2

What was attributed to him

Al-Maqqari answers the claim that he did not know hadith, saying that the leading hadith scholars transmitted from him. 2

Notes for researchers

  • The data do not include his year of death. An additional source is needed.

Sources

  1. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p. 10-11
  2. Nafh al-Tib min Ghusn al-Andalus al-Ratib — al-Maqqari, p.10-11
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “عبد الملك بن حبيب”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/abd-al-malik-ibn-habib/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-16.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story.