Abū l-Rabī‘ al-Kalā‘ī (555/1160-634/1237) was a Hadith scholar, Friday liturgical preacher, and ceremonial court orator in the service of the Almohads in Valencia. He was famed for his eloquence as an orator and belletrist. He wrote several books on the Hadith, belles-letters, and preaching, but he was best known for his work, al-Iqtifā’ fī maghāzī rasul Allāh wa-l-khulafā’ al-thalātha (“Following in the footsteps of the battles of the Messenger of God and the Three Rightly Guided Caliphs).” He participated in many military campaigns against the Christians and repor3etedly attained martyrdom during the battle of Anisha, felled as he was inciting the Muslims, exhorting, “Would you flee from Paradise?!”
Bibliography:
- Ibn al-Abbār, Takmila li-Kitāb al-Ṣila, ed. ‘Abd al-Salam al-Harras (Rabat: al-Dar al-Bayda; Dar al-Ma ‘rifa, 199?), vol. 3, p. 103
- Lisan al-Din Ibn al-Khatīb, al-Iḥāṭa fī akhbār al-Gharnāṭa ed. M. A. ‘Inān. . 4 vols. Cairo, 1973-77), vol. 4, 259.
- Abū l-Rabī‘ al-Kalā‘ī, al-Iqtifā’ fī maghāzī rasul Allāh wa-l-khulafā’ al-thalātha, ed. s. n. (Cairo; Beirut, 1367/1968)