ABSTRACT
In this paper I shall deal with the political situation of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) during the Mulūk al-Ṭawāʾif period in relation to the occurrence of munificence towards poets and learned men. 1 The little states rivalled each other in munificence and attracted poets to their courts, Seville especially being a paradise for poets. I want to investigate how poets and learned men of lower class origins or those from ethnic groups and religions other than the Arab and Berber aristocracy, were able to acquire important posts at the courts due to their literary merits. Among the special cases I will study are the political careers of Ibn ʿAmmār 2 and Samuel han-Nagīd. 3 In eleventh-century al-Andalus it was possible to get on in the world by means of skillful poetry and the knowledge of how to write letters in rhymed prose.
