Ibn al-Zayyāt al-Kalā‘ī (d. 724/1324), “the famous Sufi khaṭīb” of Velez Málaga, was renowned for his “amazing sermons,” which he delivered with “a booming voice,” and for his piety, religious knowledge, and extreme humility. Rulers sought him out as an ambassador to mediate between them in their disputes and ordinary people crowded to listen to his sermons and lectures on Sufism and receive his blessings. His prolific writings include a treatise on the art of oratory and preaching, including an anthology of sermons and orations, titled, Shudhūr al-dhahab fī sarūm al-khuṭab (The golden particles on the small dune of orations), which appears to be lost.
Bibliography:
- Lisān al-Dīn Ibn al-Khaṭīb, al-Iḥāṭa fī akhbār al-Gharnāṭa, ed. M. A. ‘Inân, 4 vols. (Cairo, 1973-77), vol. 1, pp. 145-51
- Ibn Farḥūn, Ibrāhīm b. ‘Alī, Kitāb Dibāj al-mudhhab fī ma‘rifat a‘yān ‘ulamā’ al-madhhab, ed.. Muhammad al-Ahmadi Abu l-Nur, 2 vols. (Cairo: Dar al-Turath, 1972)
- Ibn Farḥūn, Ibrāhīm b. ‘Alī, Kitāb Dibāj al-mudahhab fī ma‘rifat a‘yān ‘ulamā’ al-madhhab. Wa-bi-ḥamishi-hi, Kitāb Nayl al-ibtihāj bi-tatriz al-dibāj by Aḥmad Bābā al-Tinbuktī (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 198?), p. 44