I escaped the misdeeds of Arab politics to Andalusian poetry, the subject I majored in, but I got caught in what I escaped. Are the Arabs facing a new Andalusia? Will their nation suffer the same fate today it suffered 500 years ago? Shall we live to cry over lost rule? Or will crying be the children's lot? Today the Arabs are less fortunate than they were in Andalusia when they performed glorious deeds none of which we see now. They founded the University of Cordoba, published books, and developed paper industry with Shatiba as its capital. Authors like Ibn al-Khatib, al-Bakri, and al-Idrissi wrote books on history, geography, and travels. They were outstanding in astronomy and mathematics and named the stars, scorpions, birds, wolves, and goats. They made progress in medicine at the hands of al-Zahrawi and Ibn Zahr, and had philosophers like Ibn Baja, Ibn Tufail, Ibn Rushd (and the Jewish Ibn Maymoun), and Ibn Arabi al-Soufi. At the same time, Toledo was the capital of translation of the East and West. They also engaged in agriculture and industry and were the first to engage in international trade. In Spain, the Arabs launched European Renaissance following centuries of obscurantism, after which they slept or died. Today, the Arabs have got nothing of the Andalusia glories; they are rather in the other Andalusia and are most likely to meet the same fate. According to the other reading of Andalusian history, Tarik bin Ziad crossed the sea to Andalusia in a conquest he made in A.D. 711 (91 Hegira) whose success was beyond the expectations of its leader. He was followed by Moussa bin Nusseir in A.D. 712 (92 Hegira). I have read that he met Tarik bin Ziad in Toledo, reprimanded him, and whipped him because he advanced without asking his lord's opinion. After that, no more news was heard of Tarik who returned to the status of an unknown soldier at his lord's service. Moussa bin Nusseir carried fabulous spoils to the Caliph in Damascus while al-Walid bin Abdul Malek was ill and agonizing. His heir Salman bin Abdul Malek asked Moussa to postpone his arrival so that he got the spoils, but the latter refused and handed them over to al-Walid who died afterwards. Salman persecuted the Andalusia conqueror; he was said to have made him stand in the sun all day long till he fell unconscious. He was also said to have died on the way to the city and to have been seen begging in villages around the city. Andalusia was consecutively governed by 23 emirs from A.D. 723 and 755 when Umayyad Prince Abdul Rahman the Conqueror arrived in it to establish a princedom that unified most of the land. In Andalusia, the Arabs were divided into Madari, Yamani, and Berber tribes. The Syrians came with Abdul Rahman who faced Yamani resistance “and inflicted casualties on them, felt an aversion for all the Arabs, and found out that they were spiteful and filled with hatred. As a result, he turned away from them and established a relationship with the Mamluks. He started to buy followers from everywhere, sought assistance from the Berbers, and drew many till he built a large army.” (Nafh al-Teeb by al-Maqarri) The entire political history of Andalusia follows this pattern. Abdul Rahman's successors conspired against each other and collaborated with Spanish kings against their rivals till the Berber strife broke out in 400 Hegira. Communal lords followed suit, including followers in Almeria, Murcia, Valencia, and other places. And so did the Sahnaja Berbers in Granada and Malaga, Banu al-Aftas in Granada, Banu zi al-Noun in Toledo, including al-Ma'moun who sought support from King Ferdinand against his enemies in return for a tribute, and Banu Hammoud al-Housayniyyoun who did the same thing in Cordoba. In their days, three misfortunes struck when the Normans seized Barbastro, and then Toledo whose famous mosque was transformed by Azfounsh into a church in 478 Hegira, after which Valencia fell. Then came the Mourabitoun in 484 Hegira and remained till 539 Hegira when they were succeeded by the Mouwahidoun. All the emirs, without exception, cooperated with the foreigners against the others emirs. In the event of victory, they would crush their enemies while enmity and discord increased. The last Arab emirs belonged to the Bani Nasr clan who were not an exception to the rule of conspiracy against each other. According to history books, their 21 sultans ruled from 1232 till 1492 during which six of them were charged with rule twice, while Mohammad VIII al-Mutamassik (clinging to rule of course) was charged with rule three times. Finally, King Ferdinand used Mohammad XI, Abou Abdallah, one of his captives, against his fellows. A bloody war broke out among the sultans. Cordoba and all of Spain fell in the hands of the two Kingdoms of Castille and Aragon. The latter achieved unity with the marriage of Ferdinand, the King of Aragon with Isabelle, the Queen of the Castille, whereas Mohammad XII moved to Talmasan “and spent the rest of his life on endowment money, wearing a shabby dress.” (al-Maqarri) I ask once more if we are facing a new Andalusia, the Andalusia of politics, not of glorious deeds. The readers can perhaps facilitate arriving at an answer if they replace Andalusian names with contemporary ones, and if they compare the incidents that preceded the fall with incidents they have witnessed in their lifetime. Enough petulance. The readers could have noticed that I did not refer to Al-Mutamad bin Abbad. After I was fully absorbed in history and literature books, I have decided to continue tomorrow with some suitable Andalusian poetry, as it represents the history of both Andalusia and the Arabs. http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/
