(Ronda) .. From the Andalusian land (3)

On my third tour of my trip to the land of Andalusia, I found a great opportunity to cross to Gibraltar, which is only an hour and a half by car from Malaga. This mountain, as the Kuwaiti proverb says, "is like the kinglets’ eggs that you might hear about but cannot see." And for those who do not know what the Kinglet is, it is a type of bird that sets an example with its eggs, so it is said about the thing that is mentioned and not seen (that is because it is a migratory bird that does not last in one place, so it is difficult to find an egg that is considered small compared to the body of the bird itself), and I thought all this time that this rock is located on an island, so it became clear to me that it is on a wild piece of land extending from Spanish lands in the sea. However, it is still under British rule. So, in order to go there, we will need British visas, and in fact, it is a place worth visiting. My grandson, Ottman, had a worthy question, which is why was that Spanish rock under British rule? I explained to him that this was one of the remnants of colonialism. He replied to me: "Why didn't the Spanish take it back from them?" I answered that it is better for the Spanish people to first regain control of the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, located on the Moroccan coast, and then to demand the English out of Gibraltar. Of course, he was surprised that these two cities were under Spanish colonialism, and I told him that if we had an extra day, we would go to Ceuta, as it is only two hours away by car. Indeed, we reached the border, which is a border post that people cross on foot and spend their days there. When we arrived, I discovered that my grandchildren’s passports were new and the British visas were on their old passports that we did not have, and we were unable to enter. This was a great disappointment, but we have a plan "B". So, we continued the journey to one of the strongholds of what remained of the Muslims after the fall of Granada. It is a beautiful, mountainous city that the Muslims called "Ronda," and it has a history that is no less sad than the rest of the cities of Andalusia. What it has become was as a result of the disintegration of the state and its transformation into sects ruled by kings who did not deserve the blessings that God had bestowed upon them, so they lost religion and rule. Ronda witnessed the end of those who were called "Moriscos", most of whom were the sons of those who embraced Islam from the Spaniards, as well as those who called them "the muladí", who were the product of the intermarriage of Arabs and Berbers with the Spaniards. They were required to put a blue crescent over their turbans under threat of ridicule and persecution by Catholic fanatics. This systematic oppression pushed them to seek refuge in the highlands and mountainous regions, the most important of which was Ronda. History mentions the revolution of the Moriscos and the extermination massacres that they were subjected to, which ended the last remaining Muslims of Andalusia. Ronda is a cold city, with a cold and inspiring atmosphere, and its climate reminded me of the atmosphere of the village of Bhamdoun in the mountains of Lebanon. There, Ernest Hemingway wrote his novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and his novel "The Sun Also Rises." What makes Ronda a distinguished city is its bridges. They connect its two parts, which are separated by a deep and beautiful trench, whereas three bridges were built over it, and it is considered the most famous landmark, namely: the Roman bridge, and above it, the Arab bridge, and above them, the Spanish bridge. There is also the old mosque, which was converted into a church, and its mihrab is still standing. This city is frequented by hikers. During Islamic rule, Ronda flourished, with great scientific and cultural prosperity, and from it emerged the great scholar, Abbas Ibn Firnas.  In addition, the Andalusian poet Abu Al-Baqa Al-Randi is attributed to it. He is the author of the immortal poem "The Elegy of Andalusia," with its beginning:

"Everything in life has a deficiency

A man shouldn’t be deceived by living comfortably

Life is ups and downs

There are good and bad times

No one in life is kept

No status is ever last

Every great warrior will die soon

even if he is Ibn Yazan of Ghamdan

Where are Yemen's crowned kings?

Where are their wreaths and crowns?

Where is the gold of Qarun?

Where are Shaddad and Qahtan?

Irreversible things happen to everyone

Until they died, as there was no one

 No powers or king were remained

as storytellers in dark times told

Eternity disasters are of various types

Life has joys and sorrows

There is solace to be found in disasters

but not solace for Islam disasters.”

We will continue in the next article with the story of the Sultan of Granada, who, with his arrogance, ends the Muslim rule in Andalusia.

Stay Safe.