Abfiu-Tahir Muhammad ibn Yfisuf ibn'Abd Allih ibn Yfusuf ibn'Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim al-Tamimi, Jamal al-Din al-Mazini, al-Saraqusti, al-Andalusi, ibn al-Astarkuni/Astarkuwi2 (d. 538/1143) was a distinguished Andalusi prose writer, poet, and scholar who, possibly by virtue of being a scholar, led a rather obscure life. So obscure was it, in fact, that it is usual to begin any account of his works by regretting how little is known about him, there-by implying that the paucity of our biographical information makes it impossible to appreciate or to interpret his writings adequately. 3 Actually, I am aware of at least nine pre-modern Arab writers ranging from the sixth/twelfth to the tenth/seventeenth centuries who mention him in their writings. 4

'A preliminary version of this article was presented at the conference on Aspects of Andalusi-Arabic Literature, held in Berkeley, on April 29, 1995. I would like to express my grati-tude to Professor Maria Isabel Fierro Bello, who made available to me all the references to Ibn al-Astarkuwi gathered by her and recorded in her forthcoming electronic database Historia de los Autores y Transmisores Andalusies (HATA). I also wish to thank Professor Teresa Garulo for the many helpful suggestions she generously made during her stay in Berkeley during the academic year 1994-1995, without which this article would not have been possible. 2 Both forms of the name are documented. Since it derives from Astarkuy (Estercuel), the second is probably the correct one.