[1] Kalbi initially pursued the study of Islamic Prophetic traditions in Spain, visiting every major city in the country and learning from their scholars and academics.
Later, his study of Prophetic traditions took him through to Tunis in the year 590AH, then through Africa and on to Egypt, the Levant, Baghdad, Erbil and Wasit in Iraq, and Isfahan and Nisapur in Greater Khorasan.
[5][8] Kalbi was a student of Ibn Maḍāʾ,[6] chief judge of the Almohad Caliphate, and held immense respect for his teacher, who he referred to as "leader of all grammarians.
[2] While in Andalus, Kalbi was appointed as the judge of Dénia by the Almohads, but stepped down after public reaction to his sentencing a convict to cruel and unusual punishment.
[1] Evaluation of Kalbi's contribution to Islamic studies has been difficult due to his controversial nature among Muslim historians during the Middle Ages.
[6] At the request Al-Kamil, he wrote his most famous work: "al-Motrib min Ashaar Ahl al-Maghrib" "Arabic: المطرب من أشعار أهل المغرب" (loosely translated: Rhymes from the poetry of the people of the Maghreb) which was a collection of short biographies of the poets of Al-Andalus and Morocco, including their most famous poems.