You end the route at the most revered shrine in Marrakech. Here lies Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti, known as Sidi Bel Abbès, the city's patron saint.

1A saint from Ceuta

He was born in Ceuta in 1129 or 1130, came to Marrakech as a young man and died here in 1204. His great teaching was charity: around 1220, his biographer Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili recorded that for him almsgiving was the answer to every ill. He is remembered above all as the protector of the blind, and the complex came to include an asylum for them.

The complex you see was originally founded by the Saadian sultan Abu Faris around 1605. According to a widely repeated explanation, he was seeking the saint's blessing to cure his epilepsy. The mausoleum was rebuilt around 1720, and a madrasa and a fountain were added in the 18th and 19th centuries.

2The seven men

In the late 17th century, Sultan Moulay Ismail asked the scholar al-Hasan al-Yusi to organise a pilgrimage to the tombs of seven saints, the sab'atu rijal. Sidi Bel Abbès was its final goal. That's why Marrakech is known as the city of the seven men.

According to tradition, his miracles brought rain and relieved the poor; what history documents above all is his doctrine of charity.

3What to look for

  • The entrance arch, with its carved stucco.
  • The green pyramid roof of the mausoleum.
  • The almsgiving, which keeps the saint's tradition alive.

Documented

Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti lived from 1129-1130 to 1204, his funerary complex was begun around 1605, and the pilgrimage of the seven saints was organised under Moulay Ismail by al-Hasan al-Yusi.

Oral tradition

The miracles attributed to the saint and the cure of Sultan Abu Faris belong to devotional tradition.

Sources and credits

Ibn al-Zayyat al-Tadili, «al-Tashawwuf ila rijal al-tasawwuf» (c. 1220); Vincent J. Cornell, «Realm of the Saint» (University of Texas Press, 1998); Archnet, Sidi Bel Abbès complex record.

Photos:

  • Decorated entrance arch leading into the Sidi Bel Abbès complex: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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