 His title "Sibt ibn al-Jawzi" denotes that he is the "sibṭ" (grandson) of Ibn al-Jawzi from his daughter's side.Born in Baghdad, the son of a Turkish freedman and Ibn al-Jawzi's daughter, he was raised by his famous grandfather.After his grandfather's death he moved to Damascus, where he worked under the Ayyubids Sultans al-Mu'azzam, An-Nasir Dawud, and al-Ashraf.