Abderrahman El Majdoub

Sidi Abderrahman el Majdoub (, March 150626 May 1568), also transcribed as Mejdub, full name al-Shaykh Abu Zayd Abderrahman al-Majdoub ibn Ayyad ibn Yaacub ibn Salama ibn Khashan al-Sanhaji al-Dukkali, was a Moroccan poet, Sufi and mystic. Many lines of his poems are known throughout the Maghreb, and his work is the source of many proverbs (e.g. "doubt is the beginning of wisdom").
Biography.
Abderrahman was born in March 1506 in the Tit village near Azemmour, Morocco. He was of arabic origin. In 1508, he moved with his father to Irgan in the Area of Meknes. He was brought up in a Sufi environment, his father studied under Ibrahim Afham al-Zarhuni, a student of Ahmad Zarruq. Abderrahman studied first in Meknes, then he went to Fez to continue his studies. He studied in Meknes under teachers such as Abu Ruwayin, Ahmad al-Shabih (d. 1537), Said ibn Abi Bakr al-Mishnaza'i, Abd al-Haqq al-Zalliji, Ja'ran as-Sfyani and the "qutb" Umar al-Khattab al-Zarhuni. This latter was the one who told him to settle in the "habt" region. He studied in Fez under teachers such as Ali ibn Ahmad al-Sanhaji. He memorized the entire Quran and the 10 different ways of recitation. He lived during the rise of the Saadi dynasty under the reign of Mohammed ash-Sheikh and Abdallah al-Ghalib. This period also saw the rise of the Othoman Empire in Algeria and Tunisia.
His poetry.
El majdoub poetry was about political, moral and social issues, all his poems were collected in a Diwan that provided his mystical views on love, death, emotions, woman, science, education, religion and more. His poetry has become a part of the daily proverbs of Moroccan society.
El Majdoub died on 26 May 1568 in the Marshaqa village in the "habt" region. As requested by his will, he was buried in Meknes on 29 May 1568, near gate Aissa, where later the mausoleum of Moulay Ismail was built. The dome above his tomb was built by his student Abu l-Mahasin Yusuf al-Fasi. The tomb attracts many visitors every day.