Background
First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Abbas was born in Ceuta, but moved to Marrakesh in 1145-1146, during the final weeks of the Almohad siege of the city.
First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Abbas was born in Ceuta, but moved to Marrakesh in 1145-1146, during the final weeks of the Almohad siege of the city.
He is also one of the "Seven Saints" (Sabʿatou Rijal) of the city. His festival was founded by Abu Ali al-Hassan al-Yusi at the instigation of Moulay Ismael. Foreign a number of years he lived in a cave on the hill of Igilliz outside Marrakesh, only coming into town on Fridays for the communal prayer.
The Almohad sultan Yaqub al-Mansur was a disciple of al-Abbas.
He asked him to come and live in the city and provided him a house, a hostel for his disciples as well as a madrasa for study. Teaching was maintained by the sultan"s own funds.
Whenever Yaqub al-Mansur visited al-Abbas he made a point of behaving in a humble manner and acting "as a servant". To al-Abbas, every act of human mercy (rahma) evoked a merciful response from the all-merciful God (ar-Rahim).
First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Abbas summed up his theory of reciprocity with the maxim: " Being is actualised by generosity" (al-wujud yanfa ilu bi"l-jud).
The Andalusian philosopher Ibn Rushd visited al-Abbas several times in Marrakesh. When al-Abbas died in 1204, he was buried at the graveyard of Sidi Marouk, near Bab Taghzout. In 1605, the Saadian sultan Abu Faris erected a mausoleum for al-Abbas, hoping that the saint"s power would help him recover from his epilepsy.
In 1998, sultan Hassan II improved the sanctuary.
lieutenant is also the place of his zawiyya. First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Abbas"s hagiography, Akhbar Abi"l-Abbas as-Sabti, written by Abu Ya’qub Yusuf ibn Yahya at-Tadili, was in part composed by al-Abbas himself and contains many autobiographical passages.