The Cordovan poet Ibn Shuhayd (992–1035) is one of the most original, compelling and appealing personages to have emerged from the cultural splendor of the Umayyad period. Belonging to an illustrious family of civil servants and literary scholars, his life unfolded amid the political ups and downs of the Caliphate, which was already in decline. This circumstance, coupled with his energy and brilliant personality, marked his work with an ironic, carefree, critical tone. A close friend of Ibn Hazm and a confidant of the ruling family of the ʿĀmirīs, Ibn Shuhayd stood out as a prose writer and poet, mastering adab and satire with a lively and deeply personal style. Some of his works including the well-known Treatise of Familiar Spirits and Demons (Risālat al-Tawābi’ wa-l-Zawābi’) are now considered to be master works of universal literature. His entire body of work illustrates the creative richness of Al-Andalus and Cordoba culture beyond other great names such as Ibn Zaydún, and Ibn Hazm himself. 

Pedro Buendía holds a PhD in Arabic Philology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and is a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he is currently the editor of the journal Anaquel de Estudios Árabes. He has been a professor at the Universities of Cairo and Salamanca, as well as El Colegio de México. He has also been a visiting professor at the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and the UNTREF (Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero, Argentina). Specializing in medieval Arabic literature, he has authored numerous publications on history, literature and symbolism in pre-modern Arab societies, as well as translations of notable classical Arabic works. He was recently given the distinction of the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding (Doha, Qatar, 2023) for his translation of al-Jahiz’s Book of the Quadrature of the Circle (published in Spanish as “Libro de la Cuadratura del Círculo, Madrid, Alianza, 2021).