Lisan ad-Din ibn al-Khatib (Born 16 November 1313,
Loja– died 1374,
Fes,
Morocco) (Full name
Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Said ibn Ali ibn Ahmad al-Salmani) was an
Arab polymath poet,
writer,
historian,
philosopher,
physician and
politician from
Emirate of Granada. Some of his poems decorate the walls of the
Alhambra in
Granada. He was born at
Loja, near
Granada. al-Khatib spent most of his life as vizir at the court of
Muhammed V, but was exiled from
Granada twice and lived for some time in the
Marinid empire in
Morocco (the first time 1360-62 and the second time 1371-74 in
Ceuta and
Tlemcen and
Fes). In 1374, he was imprisoned and accused of heresy (
Zandaqa) and atheism for which he was sentenced to death by suffocation. Earlier and modern historians assume that he was executed as a result of his many political feuds in Granada. His body was burned then buried at "Bab Mahruq", one of the gates of the city of
Fes. His private feuds with the Nasrid Kings of Granada were the main reason of this treatment.