Ibn Hayyan, Abu Marwan Hayyan Ibn Khalaf Ibn Hasan Al-Kurtubi

Born 987 or 988, in Córdoba; died there Oct. 30, 1076. Hispano-Arab historian and poet.

Ibn Hayyan was the commander of the Córdoba guard. He wrote poems, theological tracts, and historical chronicles. His most outstanding work is The Book of Gleaned Information on the People of Andalusia, an important source for the history of Muslim Spain under the Umayyads (eighth to tenth centuries). The 60- volume Boo k on Fundamentals, which ibn Hayyan wrote at an advanced age, has not come down to us but is known through excerpts in the works of subsequent Arab writers.