Among those who studied under him were his son Abū Dharr and Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥamīd.
He lived sixty-three years and died in Rabīʿ al-Awwal of the year 544 AH.
156 – Muḥammad ibn Saʿd ibn Muḥammad ibn Mardanīsh al-Judhāmī*
The Andalusian ruler, Abū ʿAbd Allāh, lord of Murcia and Valencia.
He was the son-in-law of the valorous, God-fearing commander Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿIyāḍ. When Ibn ʿIyāḍ passed away, his troops unanimously chose Ibn Mardanīsh to lead them, though he was still a young man. Even so, his bravery was proverbial.
He found himself confronted by the forces of ʿAbd al-Muʾmin, who pressed him hard, and he was obliged to seek help from the Franks. After the caliph ʿAbd al-Muʾmin died, Ibn Mardanīsh consolidated his position, his power grew firm, and he became embroiled in a series of wars and grave events.
Al-Yasaʿ, in his History, writes: “When the Romans besieged Almería on learning of Ibn ʿIyāḍ’s death, counting also on Ibn Mardanīsh’s youth, he displayed a daring unmatched by anyone else—indeed, it sometimes harmed him, as we witnessed on several occasions with him. Prudence should precede courage; yet in strength and valor he occupied a station none of his contemporaries could attain. He had not yet completed fifteen years before his courage became evident. The enemy invested Ifrāgha, and one of their horsemen rode up to the wall. Muḥammad sallied forth, while his father Saʿd did not—"