Ḥayyān ibn Khalaf ibn Ḥusayn ibn Ḥayyān al-Umawī, a client of the Umayyads, was from Córdoba, a chronicler and man of letters.

He was born in 377 AH.

He passed away a little after the turn of the fifth century.

He heard ḥadith from Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Ḥusayn ibn Nābil and others, kept close company with the grammarian Abū ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥubbāb—al-Qālī’s disciple—and with Ṣāʿid ibn al-Ḥasan.

Abū ʿAlī al-Ghassānī transmitted from him, praised his reliability, and said, “He was born …,” then proceeded to give his biography (1).

Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAwn said, “Abū Marwān was eloquent and articulate; he never deliberately told a lie in the stories and reports he related” (2).

I (al-Dhahabī) say: Among his works are the book al-Muqtabas fī Tārīkh al-Andalus (Extracts on the History of al-Andalus) in ten volumes (3), and al-Mubīn fī Tārīkh al-Andalus (The Clarifier on the History of al-Andalus), an expansive composition in sixty volumes, cited by Ibn Khallikān (4).

It is reported that someone saw him in a dream and asked him about that History. He replied, “I have regretted it, but Allah absolved me and forgave me through His grace” (5).