Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Malik al-Murri al-Tighnari al-Gharnati was born into an Arab family in a small, disappeared village of Tignar, located between the existing
Albolote and
Maracena, in the province of
Granada,
Al-Andalus (modern day Spain). His year of birth and death is unknown, Al-Tighnari was a literary man and poet who lived during the time of
Zirid dynasty under
Abdallah ibn Buluggin. He was one of many personalities from Granada who moved to the
Taifa of Almería, likely because of disagreements with the ruler. He was part of a group of poets and scientists at the royal court of the
Banu Sumadih. In the gardens of the royal residence, al-Sumadihiyya, he did different types of agricultural experiments. He became part of a group of poets and naturalists in the Sevillian court who were studying under common masters, including the
Toledo agronomist
Ibn Bassal and the Sevillian physician Abu l-Hasan Sihab. It's possible that he also studied under Ibn al-Lunquh or Ibn Luengo, a physician from Toledo who was a disciple of Ibn Bassal. Al-Tighnari then travelled to various towns in al-Andalus, North Africa, and the East. for the
Almoravid prince Tamim, son of
Yusuf Ibn Tashufin. Prince Tamim was governor of the province of Granada and patron of Al-Tighnari and other agronomists and botanists. In Expiración García Sánchez's description of Al-Tighnari, she paints him as a "fine writer" with a terse, spare style. Although she has only fragments of his poetry and prose, she believes that they provide a good indication of his writing ability. She also suggests that he may have been a physician, based on the detailed knowledge of medicine shown in his treatise, but she does not have any certain evidence that he ever practiced this skill. Al-Tighnari died in Granada and was buried there. He instructed that on his tomb should be written: == Major work on agronomy ==