From the Andalusian land (2)

I wrote in the previous article about the start of my cultural journey with my grandchildren and about my first stop in Andalusia from the city of Malaga. Today, I am talking about the city of Al-Mu’tamid bin Abbad (Seville), who was very interested in poetry and used to spend a lot of his time accompanying poets. So, well-known poets appeared in his reign, like his close friend Abu Bakr bin Ammar, who became the chief minister and ended with a beating by Fas Ibn Abbad when he got angry because of him. Likewise, the poet Ibn Zaydun, the friend of Welada bint Al-Mustaqfi, who has a long story with her, which caused him to flee from Cordoba to Seville, so he became there as a minister to Ibn Abbad. Seville flourished during his reign, where building didn’t stop. During his reign, the King of Castile tried to attack his kingdom, so he sought help from the ruler of the Almoravids, Yusuf bin Tashfin, after which Ibn Tashfin turned against him and besieged Seville and was able to seize it and capture Al-Mu’tamid and exiled him to the city of Aghmat in Morocco, where he died as a servile captive. It is known that this Ibn Abbad came to power after his father when he was only thirty years old. After that, Ibn Abbad expanded his kingdom and took control of Valencia, Murcia, and Cordoba and became one of the most powerful kings of the sects, but like the rest of these kings, he did not complete his work, so he began to fall into indulgence, immorality, extravagance, and conspiracy with foreigners against his people and his religion, sometimes with strangers at other times. Eshbilia, or Seville, as it is now called, is a very beautiful city and worth a visit, but it has hot summer weather, where the temperature reaches 45 degrees. Our visit coincided with the spring celebrations there, where a parade of horse carriages, traditional costumes, and the "Svilana" dance, a folk dance influenced by the famous flamenco dance, are held. Frankly, the view is very beautiful with these high-end celebrations that reflect the culture of the city and its residents. We did not see the annoying marches or throwing of water balloons as here in Kuwait. After that, we headed to the mosque in the Kasbah, which today has become a cathedral. When Seville fell, the mosque was turned into a church, and it remained in that condition until an earthquake hit Seville, because of which part of the mosque was destroyed. The cathedral was built while preserving the lighthouse and some of its parts, most importantly the mihrab, after its modification in proportion to Catholic architecture. There are three things I would like to talk about, and I will start with the story of the mihrab of the mosque that is still standing. The tour guide pointed out to us several important points. When the mosque was built, the mihrab was not in the direction of the qiblah but in the direction of Marrakesh, and I tested the compass and found that it was real. I tried to search for this matter, but I did not find anything useful. The second matter is that before we entered the Al-Mu’tamid Palace, we passed by the Jewish Quarter, and the guide started to tell us about the Christianization of the Jews, who then were expelled from Andalusia. I asked him: Were the Jews present in Spain before the Muslims came over, or had they come to Spain along with the Muslims? He replied that they were there before the Muslims, and the Muslims were the most tolerant with them and integrated commercially, culturally, and politically as well with them, but they allied themselves with King Fernando, who ordered their Christianization and imposed on them eating pork and then expelled them from Spain. Betrayal is a main feature of those people, and they do not learn from history. What they did at Al Madina of betrayal, they re-did it in Seville. The last thing was when I stood in front of a monument in the garden of the palace on which the name of Al-Mu’tamid bin Abbad was written, and I remembered the verses of his poetry in which he mourned himself while he was in captivity, which he asked to be placed on his grave. It was said that this happened during the reign of King Hassan II. Here you are, dear reader, a part of it for the meanings, notions, and feelings it contains.

Stay Safe.

Alas, strangers’ tomb, visited by the commons

Indeed, you captured of Ibn Abbad’s shreds.

Who was known by extended patience, knowledge and welfare,

known by what is ever green and the thirsty can find water there.

He is the stabber, the hitter, the pitcher if he fights

He is the most generous who keeps all rights

Indeed, Allah is the righteous who wrote my fate

Far from the sky, he set my date.

I did not know before being in that coffin

that sticks can hardly hold mountain

Enough is the generosity have entrusted you

For all the lightning rods with thundered you

Weeping his brother who died,

With many tears as he buried.

Until the tears of dew pour down as continuous

From the flower heart for you never hide happiness

And Allah’s prayer is everlasting                                    

On your burial, shall not be counting.