While his brothers ruled his home town, he went east to study in major cities of the Islamic world in 1284, returning two years later.
He orchestrated a foreign policy change, first by making peace with Castile, and then taking Ceuta in North Africa from the Marinids.
He and his friend, Muhammad ibn Rushayd of Ceuta, visited and studied in Mecca, Medina, Damascus, and several cities of North Africa, earning diplomas and assembling a considerable library.
The crown prince, the future Muhammad III, ordered the katib to be severely punished forcing him to flee and hide in abandoned buildings.
[9] As dhu al-wizaratayn, Abu Abdallah's power grew considerably, and at the end of Muhammad III's reign he was regarded as the actual ruler of the realm.
Muhammad II had captured several fortresses in the Castilian frontiers, and the new sultan followed up with a conquest of Bedmar two weeks after his accession.
Signed by Abu Abdallah in the name of the Sultan, it established Muhammad III as a tribute-paying vassal of Castile, in exchange for the recognition of Granada's war gains.
In 1306, Granada conquered Ceuta in North Africa from the Marinids, and it was Abu Abdallah rather than the Sultan who visited the city after its conquest.
The qa'id Atiq ibn al-Mawl, whom he had passed over for the post of vizier, began a conspiracy against Abu Abdallah and Muhammad III.
On Eid al-Fitr of 708 AH (14 March 1309), an angry mob of Granada's citizens attacked the palaces of both the Vizier and the Sultan.
[11] Abu Abdallah's palace was sacked, and he was killed by Ibn al-Mawl; his corpse was defiled by the mob and lost so that he could not be buried.