Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi

• Name — Ahmad bin al-Qadi أحمد بن القاضي • Born — 1553 • Birthplace — Meknes, in present-day Morocco • Died — 1616 • Place of death — Fes Shihab al-Din abu l-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Mohammed ibn Ahmed ibn Ali ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi'l-'Afiyya al-Miknasi az-Zanati, known simply as Ahmad ibn al-Qadi or Ibn al-Qadi (1552/15531616), was a Maghrebi polygraph. He was the leading writer from Ahmad al-Mansur's court next to Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali.

Ahmad ibn al-Qadi was born in Fez in 1552/1553. His family was called the Ibn al-Qadi, a Berber family that belonged to the Miknasa tribe, a tribe of the Zenata confederation. Their ancestor was the Miknasi tribal chief, Musa ibn Abi al-Afiya. Several members of this family were established in Fez and Meknes. The Ibn al-qadi family gave birth to distinguished people, who, during the previous centuries, had held high political or religious offices and had become famous as islamic scholars.

A number of Ibn al-Qadi's scholarly works survive, including two collections of biographies of great documentary value: • Al-Muntaqa al-maqsur 'ala ma'athir al-khilafat Abi al-Abbas al-Mansur; his primary work, a panegyric of al-Mansur's great character that qualify him the rightful caliph of Islam. • Jadwat al Iqtibas Fi-man halla min al'alam madinata fas ('The Torch of learning in the recollection of the most influential notables of the city of Fez') • Dhīl wafayāt al-'ayān al-musamā > (ذيل وفيات الأعيان المسمى «درة الحجال فى أسماء الرجال») Appendix to obituaries of the notable names.