Arab lies fooled French writer (8)
I believe the answer is:
rabelais
'french writer' is the definition.
(I know that Rabelais has the occupation the writer)
'arab lies fooled' is the wordplay.
'fooled' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'fools' mean this (I've seen this in other clues)).
'arab'+'lies'='arablies'
'arablies' is an anagram of 'RABELAIS'.
(Other definitions for rabelais that I've seen before include "French writer" , "16th-century French satirist, noted for earthy humour" , "Sixteenth century French satirical author" , "Racy writer" , "bawdy writer" .)