 Ibn al-Baitar was born in the city of Málaga in Andalusia (Muslim-controlled Spain) at the end of the twelfth century, hence his "nisba" "al-Mālaqī".His name "Ibn al-Baitar" is Arabic for "son of the veterinarian", which was his father's job.Ibn al-Bayṭār learned botany from the Málagan botanist Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Nabātī with whom he started collecting plants in and around Spain.