[b] He also wrote some alchemical poems in the muwashshaḥ genre (strophic verse) and a number of short prose works on alchemy.

[2] Since both names share the major part Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Mūsa al-Anṣārī, they are close enough to raise the possibility that the two figures were indeed identical.

[4] According to the broader biographical tradition, Ibn al-Naqirāt was an expert in qirāʾāt (variant readings of the Quran) as well as in the jurisprudence and hadith of the Maliki school, preaching in the renowned Qarawiyyin mosque.

Although the fact that he was sometimes called al-Maghribī indicates that he may also have settled in Morocco, the alchemical manuscripts make no mention of Fez or any other specific place.

[8] Ibn Arfa' Ra's's most enduring work is a dīwān of alchemical poems called the Shudhūr al-dhahab ('Shards of Gold').

[10] Ibn Arfa' Ra's wrote a commentary on his own alchemical dīwān, called the Ḥall mushkilāt al-Shudhūr ('Solution to the Problems of the Shudhūr').

[11][b] There are also some alchemical poems by Ibn Arfa' Ra's which are written in muwashshaḥ, a genre of Arabic poetry that uses strophic verse.