Abd ar-Rahman II, the son of Emir Al-Hakam I, was born in Toledo. He succeeded his father as Emir of Cordoba in 822 and engaged in nearly continuous warfare against Alfonso II of Asturias, whose southward advance he halted (822–842). In 837 he suppressed a revolt of Christians and Jews in Toledo. He issued a decree by which the Christians were forbidden to seek martyrdom, and he had a Christian synod held to forbid martyrdom. In 844 Abd ar-Rahman repulsed an assault by Vikings who had disembarked in Cadiz, conquered Seville (except its citadel), and attacked Córdoba. Thereafter he constructed a fleet and naval arsenal at Seville to repel future raids.
He responded to William of Septimania’s requests of assistance in his struggle against Charles the Bald’s nominations. Abd ar-Rahman was famous for his public building program in Córdoba where he died in 852. He made additions to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba in 833 and in 848. The building had 856 columns and was reformed by Abd al Rahman II who ordered to build a new minaret. Known to be a great poet himself, he was also well known as a patron of the arts and letters and brought learned men from all over the Islamic world to Córdoba. He was also involved in the execution of the “Martyrs of Córdoba”. The Martyrs of Córdoba were forty-eight Christian martyrs living in the 9th century Muslim-ruled Al-Andalus, in what is now southern Spain; their hagiography describes in detail their executions for deliberately sought capital violations of Muslim law in Al-Andalus. The martyrdoms instanced by Eulogius took place between 851 and 859.
This fourth Omeyyad sultan was an encourager of poets, painters, and philosophers. Abu Meruan, the illustrious historian, lived in this reign, and Ziryab, the distinguished musician, was a court favourite. When Ziryab was on his way to the city of culture and the arts, his royal patron went out to receive hinn with honour and pomp. Being himself a poet and a passionate worshipper of music, Abd-er-Rahman II. was a true friend of all artists. Ziryab, the composer, was singularly versatile. We read that he invented a new process for making linen white, that he introduced asparagus into Andalusia, invented a crystal ware, and taught the use of leather beds.
He responded to William of Septimania’s requests of assistance in his struggle against Charles the Bald’s nominations. Abd ar-Rahman was famous for his public building program in Córdoba where he died in 852. He made additions to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba in 833 and in 848. The building had 856 columns and was reformed by Abd al Rahman II who ordered to build a new minaret. Known to be a great poet himself, he was also well known as a patron of the arts and letters and brought learned men from all over the Islamic world to Córdoba. He was also involved in the execution of the “Martyrs of Córdoba”. The Martyrs of Córdoba were forty-eight Christian martyrs living in the 9th century Muslim-ruled Al-Andalus, in what is now southern Spain; their hagiography describes in detail their executions for deliberately sought capital violations of Muslim law in Al-Andalus. The martyrdoms instanced by Eulogius took place between 851 and 859.
This fourth Omeyyad sultan was an encourager of poets, painters, and philosophers. Abu Meruan, the illustrious historian, lived in this reign, and Ziryab, the distinguished musician, was a court favourite. When Ziryab was on his way to the city of culture and the arts, his royal patron went out to receive hinn with honour and pomp. Being himself a poet and a passionate worshipper of music, Abd-er-Rahman II. was a true friend of all artists. Ziryab, the composer, was singularly versatile. We read that he invented a new process for making linen white, that he introduced asparagus into Andalusia, invented a crystal ware, and taught the use of leather beds.
Image of St. Eulogius beheades from Cordoba’s Iglesia del Juramento
It is interesting to learn that the harem of the second Abd-er-Rahman contained several cultured women. One of these was Tarub, a favourite concubine, to whom the monarch addressed these lines:
When the sun rises every day to give us light, it reminds me of Tarub.
I am the happiest of mortals, since I am successful in love and prosperous in war.
Another beauty of the court was Kalam, a woman of learning. She recited poetry and was gifted in music .
Abd-er-Rahman II was the monarch who most furthered the acclimatizing of Oriental Arab music in Spain. He had a special section of his palace set aside for the women singers, among whom three from the great school of Medina were outstanding. They were called the “Medinans,” and their room in the palace was known as the Medinans’ room. They were Fadal, Alam, and Kalam. Fadal was a singer possessing all the personal qualifications possible to a woman of the time. She had been a slave to one of the daughters of Harun-al-Rashid, and had grown up in Bagdad and received her instruction there. From Bagdad she went to Medina, where she extended her knowledge and accomplishments so that she became an excellent singer. She was bought by the Emir Abd-er-Rahman II at the same time as her companion, Alam. This monarch, taken by the ability of both these artists and by their polished education and consummate skill, treated them with great distinction. The singer Kalam was not behind them in perfection of song, exquisite elegance, and fine courtesy. She was a Basque maiden who had been sent as a child to the Orient, particularly to Medina, where she became very learned, even to the point of knowing by heart many literary and historical works. She was eminent in various studies and a great reciter of Arab verses.
Educating the young Arabs
The young and elegant Abu’l-Walid of Alexandria also shone at the court of Abd-er-Rahman II. Of him it was said that he would have dedicated himself to music if he had not taken the advice of Isa bin Shahid, chancellor of Abd-er-Rahman II, who counseled him to leave this profession so as not to be hindered in rising politically. So we find that the schools of Mecca and Medina were represented in Spain even from the time of their foundation. But the fame of all other singers was obscured by the arrival of the distinguished Oriental musician and singer, Ziryab. He was the direct disciple of the Mosulis, and it was through him that the wealth of Arab music penetrated into Spain at the time when the classic school was at its height. This notable singer became the corner-stone of Spanish musical art, not only because his music spread about the Peninsula, but because of his dominating personality. The greatest Moslem historian, Ibn Hayan, dedicated much space to him in his chronicle, Al-Muktabis from which we will abridge as follows:
"Ziryab is the nickname by which this musician is generally known, but his real name was Abu’l-Hasan Ali bin Nafi. He was under the patronage of the Emir Al-Muninin Al-Mahdi Al-Abasi. Because of his extremely dark color and the clarity of his speech and the sweetness of his character, he was known as the Blackbird. In Bagdad Ziryab was a pupil of Ishak Al-Mosuli, whose songs he quickly learned without his master’s cognizance, and, because of his intellect and facility in learning and his fine voice, he reached even greater heights than his master. It is well known that Ishak’s compositions taxed the executive abilities of any outsiders, however great these might be, but Ishak did not realize how much Ziryab had learned before the latter’s presentation to Harun-al-Rashid. This came about in the following way: One day Ziryab was mentioned before Harun as an advanced pupil of Al-Mosuli’s, and the latter said: “Yes, I have heard some nice things from him, some clear and emotional melodies; above all some in which I have shown him unusual modifications that he has adopted, but which are my discoveries; I showed them to him, as I considered them especially fitted to Ziryab’s art.” At this Harun asked to hear these melodies from Ziryab, so the latter was presented. The Caliph spoke to him, and he answered gracefully, with real charm of manner. Then followed a question about his skill, and Ziryab answered:
“I can sing what the other singers know, but most of my repertory is made up of numbers suitable only for performance before a Caliph like Your Majesty. The other singers do not know these. If Your Majesty will permit, I will sing for you what human ears have never even heard.” The Caliph ordered that Ishak’s lute should be handed to him, but that Ziryab declined, saying: “I have brought my own lute which I made myself, stripping the wood and working it, and no other satisfies me. I have it at the palace gate, and with your permission I will send for it.” Harun sent for it, and, as on examination it appeared like the one he had refused, the Caliph said: “Why were you unwilling to use your master’s lute?” “If the Emir desires me to sing in my master’s style, I will sing with his lute, but if I am to sing in my own style, I must play my own instrument.” “They seem alike to me,” answered Harun. “At first view, yes; but even if the size and wood are the same, the weight is not. My lute weighs about a third less than Ishak’s and my strings are made of silk that has not been spun with hot water which weakens them. The bass and third strings are made of lion guts, softer and more sonorous than those from any other animal. These strings are stronger than any others and withstand better the striking of the plectrum.”
Pacified by this explanation, the Caliph ordered him to sing. After a few preludes on the lute Ziryab began, and so stirred Harun that he turned to Al-Mosuli and said: “If I were not persuaded that he had hidden his extraordinary ability from you, I should punish you for not having told me about this artist. You shall continue his instruction until it is completed. For my part, I wish to contribute to his full development.” From then on, Ishak, sorry that he had presented Ziryab to the Caliph, became jealous and could not abide him any longer. He had a secret conversation with Ziryab in which he told him that he could not endure competition at the court. “Choose,” he said, “as the world is big, either thou leavest to go to some distant place where I shall never hear of thee again, and for this I will supply thee with whatever money thou needest; or if thou remainest here I shall use all means to ruin thee. Which dost thou choose?” Ziryab, who knew Al-Mosuli, preferred to leave; so Ishak gave him all that he had promised, and Ziryab turned his face toward the countries in the west. When Al-Rashid asked about him again, Ishak answered that he was a cranky and disturbing young man.
Ziryab departed for the Occidental world and the memory of his name was lost in the Orient. On arriving in the West, he wrote to the Spanish monarch, Al-Hakam I, saying that he knew how to sing and begging for an audience at his court. Al-Hakam was delighted and invited him to Andalusia. So Ziryab set out with his wives and children, crossing at the Straits of Gibraltar to Algeciras. There he received the tragic news that Al-Hakam had died. At this he considered turning back to Africa, but Mansur, the Jewish singer sent by Al-Hakam to meet Ziryab, persuaded him to remain and wait for word from Abd-er-Rahman II, son and successor of the dead monarch. The Jewish singer wrote to Abd-er-Rahman, telling of the occurrence, and shortly after Ziryab himself received a letter from the monarch inviting him to Cordova and expressing his pleasure in the expectation of his presence. At the same time the Emir wrote to the governors of the districts through which Ziryab was to pass, charging them to care for him and entertain him. He even sent a eunuch of the highest class to meet him with mules and all the paraphernalia and provisions needed for the trip. Ziryab entered Cordova at night, as being more decorous for his family, and was lodged in one of the best houses, which had been prepared with all essentials, even to presents of garments. After three days of repose, he was invited to present himself to Abd-er-Rahman, and was promised the following honorarium in writing: every month two hundred dinars, and his four sons twenty dinars a month; beside this, three thousand dinars annually one thousand on each of the Moslem festivals, and five hundred each at the festivals of Mahrjan and Nuruz. In addition to these he was to receive two hundred measures of barley and a hundred measures of wheat; all this without counting various orchards and farmhouses, valued at forty thousand dinars, which were given him. With all these arrangements made, and Ziryab’s contentment assured, the monarch invited him to frequent the palace as his table companion, so that his singing might be heard.
"Ziryab is the nickname by which this musician is generally known, but his real name was Abu’l-Hasan Ali bin Nafi. He was under the patronage of the Emir Al-Muninin Al-Mahdi Al-Abasi. Because of his extremely dark color and the clarity of his speech and the sweetness of his character, he was known as the Blackbird. In Bagdad Ziryab was a pupil of Ishak Al-Mosuli, whose songs he quickly learned without his master’s cognizance, and, because of his intellect and facility in learning and his fine voice, he reached even greater heights than his master. It is well known that Ishak’s compositions taxed the executive abilities of any outsiders, however great these might be, but Ishak did not realize how much Ziryab had learned before the latter’s presentation to Harun-al-Rashid. This came about in the following way: One day Ziryab was mentioned before Harun as an advanced pupil of Al-Mosuli’s, and the latter said: “Yes, I have heard some nice things from him, some clear and emotional melodies; above all some in which I have shown him unusual modifications that he has adopted, but which are my discoveries; I showed them to him, as I considered them especially fitted to Ziryab’s art.” At this Harun asked to hear these melodies from Ziryab, so the latter was presented. The Caliph spoke to him, and he answered gracefully, with real charm of manner. Then followed a question about his skill, and Ziryab answered:
“I can sing what the other singers know, but most of my repertory is made up of numbers suitable only for performance before a Caliph like Your Majesty. The other singers do not know these. If Your Majesty will permit, I will sing for you what human ears have never even heard.” The Caliph ordered that Ishak’s lute should be handed to him, but that Ziryab declined, saying: “I have brought my own lute which I made myself, stripping the wood and working it, and no other satisfies me. I have it at the palace gate, and with your permission I will send for it.” Harun sent for it, and, as on examination it appeared like the one he had refused, the Caliph said: “Why were you unwilling to use your master’s lute?” “If the Emir desires me to sing in my master’s style, I will sing with his lute, but if I am to sing in my own style, I must play my own instrument.” “They seem alike to me,” answered Harun. “At first view, yes; but even if the size and wood are the same, the weight is not. My lute weighs about a third less than Ishak’s and my strings are made of silk that has not been spun with hot water which weakens them. The bass and third strings are made of lion guts, softer and more sonorous than those from any other animal. These strings are stronger than any others and withstand better the striking of the plectrum.”
Pacified by this explanation, the Caliph ordered him to sing. After a few preludes on the lute Ziryab began, and so stirred Harun that he turned to Al-Mosuli and said: “If I were not persuaded that he had hidden his extraordinary ability from you, I should punish you for not having told me about this artist. You shall continue his instruction until it is completed. For my part, I wish to contribute to his full development.” From then on, Ishak, sorry that he had presented Ziryab to the Caliph, became jealous and could not abide him any longer. He had a secret conversation with Ziryab in which he told him that he could not endure competition at the court. “Choose,” he said, “as the world is big, either thou leavest to go to some distant place where I shall never hear of thee again, and for this I will supply thee with whatever money thou needest; or if thou remainest here I shall use all means to ruin thee. Which dost thou choose?” Ziryab, who knew Al-Mosuli, preferred to leave; so Ishak gave him all that he had promised, and Ziryab turned his face toward the countries in the west. When Al-Rashid asked about him again, Ishak answered that he was a cranky and disturbing young man.
Ziryab departed for the Occidental world and the memory of his name was lost in the Orient. On arriving in the West, he wrote to the Spanish monarch, Al-Hakam I, saying that he knew how to sing and begging for an audience at his court. Al-Hakam was delighted and invited him to Andalusia. So Ziryab set out with his wives and children, crossing at the Straits of Gibraltar to Algeciras. There he received the tragic news that Al-Hakam had died. At this he considered turning back to Africa, but Mansur, the Jewish singer sent by Al-Hakam to meet Ziryab, persuaded him to remain and wait for word from Abd-er-Rahman II, son and successor of the dead monarch. The Jewish singer wrote to Abd-er-Rahman, telling of the occurrence, and shortly after Ziryab himself received a letter from the monarch inviting him to Cordova and expressing his pleasure in the expectation of his presence. At the same time the Emir wrote to the governors of the districts through which Ziryab was to pass, charging them to care for him and entertain him. He even sent a eunuch of the highest class to meet him with mules and all the paraphernalia and provisions needed for the trip. Ziryab entered Cordova at night, as being more decorous for his family, and was lodged in one of the best houses, which had been prepared with all essentials, even to presents of garments. After three days of repose, he was invited to present himself to Abd-er-Rahman, and was promised the following honorarium in writing: every month two hundred dinars, and his four sons twenty dinars a month; beside this, three thousand dinars annually one thousand on each of the Moslem festivals, and five hundred each at the festivals of Mahrjan and Nuruz. In addition to these he was to receive two hundred measures of barley and a hundred measures of wheat; all this without counting various orchards and farmhouses, valued at forty thousand dinars, which were given him. With all these arrangements made, and Ziryab’s contentment assured, the monarch invited him to frequent the palace as his table companion, so that his singing might be heard.
Oud player
Ludwig Deutsch
Ziryab is said to have claimed that the spirits inspired him in his dreams, not only for singing, but for all the music which he was to execute in concert and if he awoke in the middle of the night, he would immediately call his two slaves, Gazlan and Huneida. Each would take his lute and Ziryab would at once teach them to play the composition and then he would write down the verses. After this he would go back to bed. This is the same tale as was told about Ibra him Al-Mosuli; but such tales are dubious God only knows what really took place.
It was in Andalusia that Ziryab added a fifth string to the lute. The original lute had four, and, according to the symbolism of the time, these corresponded to the four humors of the body. The first was yellow and symbolized bile; the second red, for the blood; the third white for phlegm; and the bass string was black, symbolic of melancholy. Thus a soul was needed for the lute, and Ziryab added another red string between the second and third. In this way the instrument acquired more delicacy of expression and greater range of possibilities. He also invented a plectrum made of eagle quill instead of the wooden one commonly used. This new plectrum had a better edge, and was neater and lighter, so that it was easier to handle and did not wear the strings so quickly. Ziryab, beside being a good poet, was well educated in many subjects astronomy, geography, physics, meteorology, and so forth. But above all was this true of his own art, for he had a vast repertory of ten thousand songs, a number never exceeded by other artists, according to Ptolemy and the ancient writers. He was perspicacious and enjoyed all sorts of ingenious devices. He knew all branches of literature, his social contacts were most delicate and courteous, his conversation very agreeable, and his urbanity exquisite, thus combining all the qualities needed for a gentleman of the court, qualities not possessed by all others in his station. The palace officials and other people of importance in Cordova accepted Ziryab’s conduct as a social model, and many of his innovations lasted through the following centuries, always connected with his name. Before his arrival in Spain men and women wore their hair parted in the middle and falling on both sides, covering the eyebrows. But when the fashionable people saw that Ziryab, his wives, and sons had their foreheads uncovered, with the hair trimmed level over the eyebrows and slanting toward the ears, they imitated him, until even the servants, eunuchs, and slaves adopted this fashion. Many customs in perfumes, clothes, cooking, and the use of crystal tableware originated with this musician. His dinners became the fashion in Andalusia. But it is the musical fashions set by him that most interest us. The historian we are quoting tells us that it was the constant practice in Spain for those learning to sing to begin with the anexir or recitative as a first exercise, accompanying themselves with some kind of instrument of percussion. This was immediately followed by simple songs, and later more stirring varieties, even hezejs, were attempted. This was the method introduced by Ziryab.
When this master gave a singing-lesson he commanded the pupil to sit on a leather cushion and force his voice. If the pupil’s voice was powerful, the teaching began without further preliminaries, but if it was a small voice he was ordered to bind his abdomen with a turban cloth to support it, not leaving the voice much leeway in the center of the body, with the intention that it should come out of the mouth. If the pupil did not open his jaws enough, Ziryab ordered him to keep in his mouth over night a bit of wood three fingers in width, so as to acquire the habit of opening his jaws. With the idea of observing the natural qualities of the prospective pupil’s voice, Ziryab made him shout for some time at the top of his lungs the phrase, ya hajam, or simply ah. If Ziryab noted that the voice was clear, strong, and pure, without nasality or impediments of speech, or difficulties of respiration, and if he considered that the aspirant had the right personality for singing, then he accepted him, but not otherwise.
Thus far, Ibn Hayan! All this information comes through people influenced by the musical tradition or by the artist himself; but there were contrary opinions. The Spanish poet, Al-Ghazzal, offended perhaps by the prestige of this singer from the East, let loose his invectives and satire against Ziryab, but when Abd-er-Rahman heard of this violent attitude, he commanded Al-Ghazzal to cease. Ibn Abdi Rabbihi, in his Encyclopedia, also treated Ziryab contemptuously, doubtless echoing some of the traditional Arab feeling against singers. Some of the employees of the ex-chequer strongly opposed paying out of the public funds thirty thousand dinars, the sum which on one occasion Abd-er-Rahman ordered given to Ziryab. But in general even the priests delighted in the remembrance of Ziryab’s name as that of an artist of proverbial fame, one whose music and teaching really formed the traditional Spanish school.
Ibn Khaldun tells us that the musical knowledge which Ziryab left as a legacy to Spain was treasured until the provincial and civic governors became independent. Adherence to this musical tradition was widespread in Seville, and when this town decayed, music passed over into Africa and the Almagreb, some traces of it were still found in the fourteenth century, notwithstanding the decadence of the African Empire.
Until the last days of Granada the poets remembered Ziryab, whom they classed with the illustrious Mabed. The school of Ziryab took root in Spain, thanks to his many immediate followers, first among whom were the members of his own family. Ziryab had ten children, eight boys and two girls. Every one of these adopted the art of music, though not all reached the same eminence. The best singer was Ubaydu-l-lah; next Abdu’r-Rahman, who was so vain and self-satisfied that he alienated the good will of everybody. Kasim was a good artist and an excellent individual; Muhammad was effeminate. Ziryab’s two daughters were much esteemed; Hamduna, the more skillful artist of the two, married as important a personage as the chancellor of the realm, Hashim bin Abdu’1-Aziz. She died before her sister, Alya, who, being the sole survivor of the family, was much sought after as a teacher, drawing to herself all the clientele due to her father’s prestige.
Ziryab, moreover, educated one of his slave-girls and taught her his best songs. She was a lovely maiden, called Metaa, and Abd-er-Rahman II became enamored of her when she went to the palace, sometimes to sing and at other times to pour the wines. This slavemaiden noticed the sovereign’s passion, though he had not shown it in public, out of consideration for Ziryab. One day, therefore, abandoning all prudence Metaa indicated her feeling in the verses of her song, chiding the Emir for not expressing his. When Ziryab understood the situation, he hastened to present the slave to Abd-er-Rahman, so as to enable him henceforth to keep her at the palace. Another pupil of Ziryab’s was Masabih, a woman slave with a beautiful voice. Her master, the secretary of Abu Hafs Omar bin Kalil, showed himself very grudging in refusing all appeals to hear her. The poet Abu Omar bin Abdi Rabbihi made such a request and was denied, so he composed some verses in which he said to the owner:
“Dost thou show thyself avaricious about the voice of a bird that warbles? I think no man has ever before shown this vice; For, however many are the people who hear her. The treasure of her voice is neither lessened nor increased.”
Ziryab’s songs were carefully collected and preserved by Aslam bin Abdu-1-Aziz, a relative of Hamduna’s. He knew all of Ziryab’s songs as well as their history and classification, and could perform them. He therefore made an admirable collection, which was later popularized. Thus it will be seen that Oriental music penetrated and over spread Spain, brought by slave singers who were not Arabian by race, or singers who had once been slaves, or foreigners who had learned in the Oriental schools. The early Medinans found here their later followers, and the classics of the Mosulis became dominant in the Peninsula through the medium of that exceptional artist, Ziryab, a direct disciple of Ishak Al-Mosuli. The same songs and instruments were used in Spain as in the Orient through the middle of the ninth century A.D.
It was in Andalusia that Ziryab added a fifth string to the lute. The original lute had four, and, according to the symbolism of the time, these corresponded to the four humors of the body. The first was yellow and symbolized bile; the second red, for the blood; the third white for phlegm; and the bass string was black, symbolic of melancholy. Thus a soul was needed for the lute, and Ziryab added another red string between the second and third. In this way the instrument acquired more delicacy of expression and greater range of possibilities. He also invented a plectrum made of eagle quill instead of the wooden one commonly used. This new plectrum had a better edge, and was neater and lighter, so that it was easier to handle and did not wear the strings so quickly. Ziryab, beside being a good poet, was well educated in many subjects astronomy, geography, physics, meteorology, and so forth. But above all was this true of his own art, for he had a vast repertory of ten thousand songs, a number never exceeded by other artists, according to Ptolemy and the ancient writers. He was perspicacious and enjoyed all sorts of ingenious devices. He knew all branches of literature, his social contacts were most delicate and courteous, his conversation very agreeable, and his urbanity exquisite, thus combining all the qualities needed for a gentleman of the court, qualities not possessed by all others in his station. The palace officials and other people of importance in Cordova accepted Ziryab’s conduct as a social model, and many of his innovations lasted through the following centuries, always connected with his name. Before his arrival in Spain men and women wore their hair parted in the middle and falling on both sides, covering the eyebrows. But when the fashionable people saw that Ziryab, his wives, and sons had their foreheads uncovered, with the hair trimmed level over the eyebrows and slanting toward the ears, they imitated him, until even the servants, eunuchs, and slaves adopted this fashion. Many customs in perfumes, clothes, cooking, and the use of crystal tableware originated with this musician. His dinners became the fashion in Andalusia. But it is the musical fashions set by him that most interest us. The historian we are quoting tells us that it was the constant practice in Spain for those learning to sing to begin with the anexir or recitative as a first exercise, accompanying themselves with some kind of instrument of percussion. This was immediately followed by simple songs, and later more stirring varieties, even hezejs, were attempted. This was the method introduced by Ziryab.
When this master gave a singing-lesson he commanded the pupil to sit on a leather cushion and force his voice. If the pupil’s voice was powerful, the teaching began without further preliminaries, but if it was a small voice he was ordered to bind his abdomen with a turban cloth to support it, not leaving the voice much leeway in the center of the body, with the intention that it should come out of the mouth. If the pupil did not open his jaws enough, Ziryab ordered him to keep in his mouth over night a bit of wood three fingers in width, so as to acquire the habit of opening his jaws. With the idea of observing the natural qualities of the prospective pupil’s voice, Ziryab made him shout for some time at the top of his lungs the phrase, ya hajam, or simply ah. If Ziryab noted that the voice was clear, strong, and pure, without nasality or impediments of speech, or difficulties of respiration, and if he considered that the aspirant had the right personality for singing, then he accepted him, but not otherwise.
Thus far, Ibn Hayan! All this information comes through people influenced by the musical tradition or by the artist himself; but there were contrary opinions. The Spanish poet, Al-Ghazzal, offended perhaps by the prestige of this singer from the East, let loose his invectives and satire against Ziryab, but when Abd-er-Rahman heard of this violent attitude, he commanded Al-Ghazzal to cease. Ibn Abdi Rabbihi, in his Encyclopedia, also treated Ziryab contemptuously, doubtless echoing some of the traditional Arab feeling against singers. Some of the employees of the ex-chequer strongly opposed paying out of the public funds thirty thousand dinars, the sum which on one occasion Abd-er-Rahman ordered given to Ziryab. But in general even the priests delighted in the remembrance of Ziryab’s name as that of an artist of proverbial fame, one whose music and teaching really formed the traditional Spanish school.
Ibn Khaldun tells us that the musical knowledge which Ziryab left as a legacy to Spain was treasured until the provincial and civic governors became independent. Adherence to this musical tradition was widespread in Seville, and when this town decayed, music passed over into Africa and the Almagreb, some traces of it were still found in the fourteenth century, notwithstanding the decadence of the African Empire.
Until the last days of Granada the poets remembered Ziryab, whom they classed with the illustrious Mabed. The school of Ziryab took root in Spain, thanks to his many immediate followers, first among whom were the members of his own family. Ziryab had ten children, eight boys and two girls. Every one of these adopted the art of music, though not all reached the same eminence. The best singer was Ubaydu-l-lah; next Abdu’r-Rahman, who was so vain and self-satisfied that he alienated the good will of everybody. Kasim was a good artist and an excellent individual; Muhammad was effeminate. Ziryab’s two daughters were much esteemed; Hamduna, the more skillful artist of the two, married as important a personage as the chancellor of the realm, Hashim bin Abdu’1-Aziz. She died before her sister, Alya, who, being the sole survivor of the family, was much sought after as a teacher, drawing to herself all the clientele due to her father’s prestige.
Ziryab, moreover, educated one of his slave-girls and taught her his best songs. She was a lovely maiden, called Metaa, and Abd-er-Rahman II became enamored of her when she went to the palace, sometimes to sing and at other times to pour the wines. This slavemaiden noticed the sovereign’s passion, though he had not shown it in public, out of consideration for Ziryab. One day, therefore, abandoning all prudence Metaa indicated her feeling in the verses of her song, chiding the Emir for not expressing his. When Ziryab understood the situation, he hastened to present the slave to Abd-er-Rahman, so as to enable him henceforth to keep her at the palace. Another pupil of Ziryab’s was Masabih, a woman slave with a beautiful voice. Her master, the secretary of Abu Hafs Omar bin Kalil, showed himself very grudging in refusing all appeals to hear her. The poet Abu Omar bin Abdi Rabbihi made such a request and was denied, so he composed some verses in which he said to the owner:
“Dost thou show thyself avaricious about the voice of a bird that warbles? I think no man has ever before shown this vice; For, however many are the people who hear her. The treasure of her voice is neither lessened nor increased.”
Ziryab’s songs were carefully collected and preserved by Aslam bin Abdu-1-Aziz, a relative of Hamduna’s. He knew all of Ziryab’s songs as well as their history and classification, and could perform them. He therefore made an admirable collection, which was later popularized. Thus it will be seen that Oriental music penetrated and over spread Spain, brought by slave singers who were not Arabian by race, or singers who had once been slaves, or foreigners who had learned in the Oriental schools. The early Medinans found here their later followers, and the classics of the Mosulis became dominant in the Peninsula through the medium of that exceptional artist, Ziryab, a direct disciple of Ishak Al-Mosuli. The same songs and instruments were used in Spain as in the Orient through the middle of the ninth century A.D.
The Spanish Arabs were extremely fond of learning. Indeed, it is due to them to a very great extent that literature and science were kept afloat in Europe during the ages that followed the invasion of the Barbarians, as the Huns, Vandals, Goths, and Visigoths were generally called. That interval known as the ‘Dark Ages’ was kept alight by the Arabs alone. Abd-ar-Rahman II. established a library at Cordova during his reign, A.D. 822-852.
Tudmir
When Abdallah, the son of Abd ar-Rahman I who reigned between 756-788, was informed in Tangiers that this nephew Alhakem had departed from life, it soon appeared that the snows of age had not wholly extinghed the fires of ambition in his heart. Vainly confiding in the help of his sons, he passed the Strait with a considerable force, causing himself to be proclaimed King of Spain in his camp and in such of the towns as had no means of resisting the entrance of his people. The King Abderahman, informed of this movement on the part of his uncle, proceeded with his cavalry to meet him, and having defeated the forces of Abdallah in several encounters, compelled them to retire by the Land of Todmir to Valencia, in which city, after repeated skirmishes, in all of which he had but evil fortune, the old man was compelled to shut himself up. Abderahman then sat down before the city, determined to put an end to the commotion thus excited before he should raise the siege. The two sons of Abdullah now arrived at the royal camp to intercede for their father with the king, and furthermoxe intending to persuade the former into making miserable conditions with his justly-offended sovereign. The natural clemency and generosity of Abderahman rendered their task an easy one, so far as he was concerned, nor did the mercy of heaven fail to assist their good intentions as regarded their father. Now Abdallah had made all arrangements for a sortie with his troops against those of Cordova; and on a certain Thursday he had spoken to his people, saying, “ To-morrow, friends and companions, we will make our prayer of Juma, and, if it be the will of God, we will go forth on the Saturday with the blessing of Allah, and defend our cause against the foe, if God shall so please.” The Juma having come, and his people being assembled before the Mosque of Bab Todmir or Gate of Murcia, Abdallah made them an oration, at the close of which were these words: “ Oh, ye noble companies of brave warriors, may God be merciful to you! I lieve that we ought now to ask for His divina goodness, that he should teach us the, way we ought to go and the part we ought to take, having no other desire than that of conforming ourselves to His divine will. I hope from His mercy that He will show us and make us understand what is most suitable for us to do.” The aged Prince then raised his hands and eyes to heaven, and said, “ Oh God, the Lord Allah! if my demand be just and good, if I have a better right than hath the grandson of my father to the throne of our country, do thou aid and give me victory over him; but if his right to the empire have a better foundation than hath the claim of thy servant now before Thee, bless him in that right, and do not permit the horrors and misfortunes of the war now between us to continue; support his power and state with Thy hand, and let his cause triumph.” To this all those of Abdallah’s host, and many of the ínhabitants of the city who were then present, replied, “ So be it.” At that moment there rose a very cold and icy wind, a thing altogether unknown in those climates, which caused a sudden accident whereby Abdallah was cast to the earth and remained speechless, in such sort that they bore him to the palace, and the prayer was finished without him. Afler remaining without the power of speech for several days, the tongue of Abdallah was loosened by the hand of God, and he spake as fo1lows:—“ God hath concluded this affair, and hath not permitted me further to proceed with an undertaking which is contrary to His divine will.” He then dispatched a Vizier to the camp to summon the Prince Esfah and Casim to his presence; he wrote letters at the same time to King Abderahman, offering his allegiance with entire willingness of heart. Immediately afterwards he caused the gates of the city to be thrown open for the entrance of the king.
The Vizier having delivered his letters to the sons of Abdallah and to the king, the former, first requiring permission from their sovereign, repaired to the city; but when the Vizier of Abdalla had announced their approach to his master, that prince came forth with all his most important officers, and having met his sons, the whole cavalcade then turned back and rode together to the pavilion of King Abderahman-the venerable old man riding between his sons, and followed by all his train. Arrived at the king’s tent, Esfah dismounted to hold the bridle of his father’s horse, while Casim placed himself at his stirrup, and thus aiding him to dismount, they then led him to the presence of Abderahman, whose hand Abdallab proceeded to kiss in token of subjection: but the king received him in his arms, treating his ancient relative with great affection, and showing him all possible honour. Uninterrupted peace reigned between them from that time, Abderahman conferring on his uncle the government of Todmir for his life; and there the old man lived until the year 208, when he de arted to the mercy of Allah. Of the people who had accompanied Abdullah from Africa, one part settled in his new government of Todmir, and the other returned to Tangiers. The death of Prince Abdalla took place exactly two years after the events above related .
A year later Umayyad b. Mu’awiya b. Hisham, together with Muhajir b. ‘Utba passed through Tudmir. Both were responsible for directing the Umayyad troops in 824. In Tudmir fighting continued between Yemenis and mudaris on Lorca’s grounds, Abu l-Šammaj fighting for the Umayyad government. At that time tough confrontation took place between two parties in which many people died. Umayyad b. Mu’awiya seized two of the rebels - Abdun b. ‘Abd Allah and’ Umar b. ‘Ubaydun, who he chained and brought to Cordova .
Abd al-Rahman II was also known as a great builder and organizer. He founded the town of Murcia in 831 , although other historians indicate the year 825. The issue of the date was finally settled by Pocklington who proved that the correct date is 825.
Islamic sources cite general Unmayya Ibn Mu’awiya Ibn Hisan as the peacemaker of the Cora of Tudmir, and general Chabir was the first governor of Murcia.
According to the al-Rawd al-Mitar Murcia was built by the governor Djabir b. Malik b. Labid . Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar, The Book of the Fragrant Garden is a fifteenth-century Arabic geography by Muhammad bin Abd al-Munim al-Himyari which serves as primary source for the history of Muslim Spain in the Middle Ages, though it is based in part on the earlier account by Muhammad al-Idrisi. It was edited and translated into French by E. Levi-Provençal in 1938 and into Spanish by Maria Pilar Maestro Gonzālez in 1963.
The decisive drive to research the name of Murcia came from the hand of A. Gonzalez Blanco when he proposed in 1981 to link the name Murcia with water and leafy places. The proposal originates in the adjective romance Murcio/a, certainly related to the term myrteus/murteus, with significance of “place of myrtle” or simply “green place ”. Other researchers suggest that the name of the actual city of Murcia possibly comes from a primitive Christian denomination as a great deal of its first inhabitants were descendants of Hispanians who received Christian education .
In the year 227/843 died the Cadi of Todmir, Abderahman Ben Fadal El Caneni of Ateka, a man renowned for his integrity; his son, Aben Fadal, was in like manner distinguished for ability and excellence, wherefore Abderahman conferred on him the charge which had been held by his father; and the people of the district thus confided to him returned thanks to the king for that appointment. Some years later, precisely in 852 A.D. Amira Ben Abderahman Ben Marun El Ateki of Tadmir also died: he was celebrated for his great knowledge, and gifts in the composition of verse, and is known also by the name of Abulfadal. His death caused much sorrow, and he was long lamented .
Maqqari remembers that the dominions of the Goth Theodomir were called Belād Tudmír (the country of Theodomir), the city of Murcia (the Murgí of Pomponius Mela), or some other city contiguous to it, where he fixed his residence, being naturally (called Medinah Tudmír (the city of Theodomir), and Hadhrat-Tudmír, the court or residence of Theodomir. According to the author of the Audhahu-l-mesālek (fo. 151, verso), Murcia was entirely built by the Arabs, with the materials of a Roman city in the neighbourhood. Abū-l-fedā (Geog. fo. 47, verso) says that this took place during the reign of the Bení Umeyyah at Cordova. See also Ibn Khallekān, at the life of Abū Bekr Mohammed Ibnu-l-hoseyn (No. 634, Tyd. Ind).
Many natives of Todmir, as good Muslims, fulfilled the commandment of pilgrimage to Mecca, visiting the different capitals of Spain, Africa and Egypt, where they could acquire beneficial training next to a famous doctor in the Muslim world.
Traveling to the East was ridden with difficulties due to frequent shipwrecks. However, there was another danger - that of attacks on pilgrims’ caravans. María Luisa Āvila let us know that the oldest of Adalusi biographical dictionaries is that of Ibn Harith al-Khushani, known as Akhbar al-fuqaha, wa-l-muhaddithin, encompassing the ninth and tenth centuries. This work gives us a testimony of an attack on pilgrims’ caravans, as appears in the following account by Ibn Harith:
Ahmad b. Maysara came back to al-Andalus before the year 290 [902], when Ibrahim b. Ahmad b. al-Aghlab was ruling over Ifriqiya. In the same caravan was also traveling ‘Ubayd Allah al-Shi'i, and it was Ahmad b. Maysara who advised him to behave more humbly and to abandon his mighty ways. Ahmad b. Maysara told ‘Ubayd Allah, "In the Maghreb this behavior is dangerous and I fear for your safety because of the Berber thieves. You will be ruined and be the cause of our ruin.” ‘Ubayd Allah accepted this advice and became more subdued, but it was not long before the caravan was attacked by a party of Berbers who looted and plundered it. ‘Ubayd Allah was left with only a couple of loads of flax with which he was able to arrive in Tripoli .
Cordoba, Seville, Cairceuan in Africa, Alexandria in Egypt, and Medina were at the time of the Caliphate the training centers most frequented by Spanish Muslims, but the most favored by his presence was Medina, where Málic became the prince of science of the Islamic law, as were his teachers and, after his death, his own disciples. Since Medina, the capital of Hechaz, was located at the path of the pilgrims coming from the West to Mecca and was the greatest analogy of civilization among the natives of both parts relative to other countries in the East, according to Ahenjaldún these pilgrims preferred to learn of other capitals that were not less celebrated by their doctors, and that it was introduced and accepted in Spain, the Málic school of jurisprudence founded in the literal tradition, rather than the one in Abuhanifa which serves as the base of deduction and first analogy. The Almouata and the Almodauana were a collection of traditions and a kind of digest enclosing the decisions of the famous doctor of law, both forming the system of jurisprudence taught by him. These were the two works preferentially studied by Traditionalists native of Murcia in their wanderings .
Orihuela
Once fulfilled the religious precept, these returned to their country after being enlightened by the acquired teachings, which they passed to their children and countrymen, many of them deserving for their knowledge the highest positions of public administration in their own cities or neighbourhoods, especially the position of Qadi or general judge, notary, injustice repairman, market police, prayer president, preacher of the mosque and others, and these posts could be passed on from father to son together with the instruction. So after Fadl, son of Amíra, a native of Orihuela, the first Qadi of Todmir, mentioned Arab authors, he appears covered with equal dignity under the orders of emir Alháquem, the son of someone called Abderráman, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, who died in 841 or 842, and passed his position on to his younger brother named after his father, Fadl, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, who died in 878 or 879 .
A son of the Qadi Abderráman, son of Fadl, named Asorah and nicknamed Abulósna, native of Murcia, moved after traveling some capitals of Spain to Caireuan and then to Egypt where he stayed for some time completing his education and listening to the most famous traditionalists of his time, and died at one hundred and five years of age in 907 or 908. Qadi Fadl, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, had two sons named Amíra and Abderráman, both natives of Orihuela, who later started as lawyers right next to their father, marched to the East, the former did so some time after the latter, in order to fulfill the religious precept of the pilgrimage and improve his education; the first of them died in 897 or 898 and the second was surprised by death on the road on return from the pilgrimage in 906 or 907. After Abderráman, son of Fadl, and before his brother appears Jálid as Qadi of Todmir, Jálid, son of Almotain, nicknamed Aburazin, a native of Elvira where he had exercised the same position before. Some of these native Todmir lawyers who marched to the East established their residence there devoted to the study and teaching. Such was Ybrahim, son of Muza, nicknamed Abuishac, who lived in Egypt, Mecca, and Baghdad, and lastly returned to the first region where he died in 912 or 913. The following people are cited among others as famous traditionalists and natural philosophers of Lorca: Jalaf, son of Jalaf, son of Hixem, who died in 916 or 917; Mohámed, son of Chonaidin, of acute and insightful ingenuity for interpreting the meaning of phrases, died in 933 or 934; Hafs, son of Mohámed, son of Hafs, a disciple of Abulósna, son of Abderráman, Qadi of the region, son of Fadl, died in 936 or 937; Málic, son of Turail, nicknamed Abulcásim, who died in Orihuela at 80 years of age in 965 or 966: a son of the aforementioned Jalaf, named Áhmed and nicknamed Abulabas, who was taught by his father-in-law and tradition and died in 967 or 968 at 82 years of age; Abdála, son of Asuad, who died in 973 or 974; Mohámed; son of Batal, son of Uahab, the Temimi, who made two trips to the East - the first in 939 and the second in 957 on which he listened to many famous doctors and, once back in Spain, taught tradition in Cordoba, and died in Lorca in 976 or 977. It was often the case in Arab Spain that many men illustrious for science and religion came out of their study and meditation to fight in the front row against Christians in the North; among them is worthy of special mention the famous jurist and ascetic of the Todmir choir who won the dictation of "Martyr of the Holy War". His name was Mohámed, son of Abulhisam Táhir, and he was a man of extraordinary merit, since after making his first studies in his hometown and in Cordoba he went to the East where he spent several years between Medina, Mecca, Jerusalem, and other cities, getting the fame of his knowledge to be known from East to West. When he returned to Todmir, he established his home in Murcia on the outskirts of the capital in a farmhouse belonging to the Benitáhir in which a building was built, decorated with inscriptions and art objects; there was an orchard, which he cultivated himself, and ate fruit from. But not because of this, according to his biographers, he neglected his duty in the holy war. He left the delights of his home and joined the ranks of Mohámed, son of Abuámir Almanzor, and their leaders attending the conquest of Zamora and Coimbra, and later went back to marabout from the border, becoming famous for his courage and prowess until he was killed in the campaign of Talavera in 988 or 989.
It is curious to see how the familiar tendency of serving in positions of responsibility on the legal and religious grounds does not change with the change of location. There are many that were forced to migrate to another city before the Christian advance, without it meaning a change in position.
They were ulemas that made the rihla. But the second family of importance with regards to the ulama are the Banû Jattâb and the Banû Abî Yamra. The descendants of this character join the world of the ulama in 222/836-837 when his great-grandson and his two sons make the pilgrimage, study in Egypt and Qayrawân with one of the teachers they had in this city. Sahnûn study their legal compilation, the Mudawwana, and it's the transmission of this work that keeps them in the world of the ulama. In the period under study it does not seem that they were appointed as Qadis. Their activity happened in the second half of s. III/IX and draws attention to the high percentage of those who do the rihla, which was undoubtedly affected by Tudmir's geographical location. One of the destinations is still Misr, where one of the ulamas even gets to settle, with which other Andalusians will study. Ibn Waddâh's generation does not seem to have exercised any influence, while the change was noticeable in the influence of Fadl b. Salama, a teacher based in Pechina. Finally in Lorca and Orihuela the ulamas of these two places die early IV/X century. They study in Cordoba, Pechina and Elvira, but they don't do the rihla and dedicate themselves to fiqh. Contrarily to Tudmir, in Lorca there was a disciple of Ibn Waddâh.
The decisive drive to research the name of Murcia came from the hand of A. Gonzalez Blanco when he proposed in 1981 to link the name Murcia with water and leafy places. The proposal originates in the adjective romance Murcio/a, certainly related to the term myrteus/murteus, with significance of “place of myrtle” or simply “green place ”. Other researchers suggest that the name of the actual city of Murcia possibly comes from a primitive Christian denomination as a great deal of its first inhabitants were descendants of Hispanians who received Christian education .
In the year 227/843 died the Cadi of Todmir, Abderahman Ben Fadal El Caneni of Ateka, a man renowned for his integrity; his son, Aben Fadal, was in like manner distinguished for ability and excellence, wherefore Abderahman conferred on him the charge which had been held by his father; and the people of the district thus confided to him returned thanks to the king for that appointment. Some years later, precisely in 852 A.D. Amira Ben Abderahman Ben Marun El Ateki of Tadmir also died: he was celebrated for his great knowledge, and gifts in the composition of verse, and is known also by the name of Abulfadal. His death caused much sorrow, and he was long lamented .
Maqqari remembers that the dominions of the Goth Theodomir were called Belād Tudmír (the country of Theodomir), the city of Murcia (the Murgí of Pomponius Mela), or some other city contiguous to it, where he fixed his residence, being naturally (called Medinah Tudmír (the city of Theodomir), and Hadhrat-Tudmír, the court or residence of Theodomir. According to the author of the Audhahu-l-mesālek (fo. 151, verso), Murcia was entirely built by the Arabs, with the materials of a Roman city in the neighbourhood. Abū-l-fedā (Geog. fo. 47, verso) says that this took place during the reign of the Bení Umeyyah at Cordova. See also Ibn Khallekān, at the life of Abū Bekr Mohammed Ibnu-l-hoseyn (No. 634, Tyd. Ind).
Many natives of Todmir, as good Muslims, fulfilled the commandment of pilgrimage to Mecca, visiting the different capitals of Spain, Africa and Egypt, where they could acquire beneficial training next to a famous doctor in the Muslim world.
Traveling to the East was ridden with difficulties due to frequent shipwrecks. However, there was another danger - that of attacks on pilgrims’ caravans. María Luisa Āvila let us know that the oldest of Adalusi biographical dictionaries is that of Ibn Harith al-Khushani, known as Akhbar al-fuqaha, wa-l-muhaddithin, encompassing the ninth and tenth centuries. This work gives us a testimony of an attack on pilgrims’ caravans, as appears in the following account by Ibn Harith:
Ahmad b. Maysara came back to al-Andalus before the year 290 [902], when Ibrahim b. Ahmad b. al-Aghlab was ruling over Ifriqiya. In the same caravan was also traveling ‘Ubayd Allah al-Shi'i, and it was Ahmad b. Maysara who advised him to behave more humbly and to abandon his mighty ways. Ahmad b. Maysara told ‘Ubayd Allah, "In the Maghreb this behavior is dangerous and I fear for your safety because of the Berber thieves. You will be ruined and be the cause of our ruin.” ‘Ubayd Allah accepted this advice and became more subdued, but it was not long before the caravan was attacked by a party of Berbers who looted and plundered it. ‘Ubayd Allah was left with only a couple of loads of flax with which he was able to arrive in Tripoli .
Cordoba, Seville, Cairceuan in Africa, Alexandria in Egypt, and Medina were at the time of the Caliphate the training centers most frequented by Spanish Muslims, but the most favored by his presence was Medina, where Málic became the prince of science of the Islamic law, as were his teachers and, after his death, his own disciples. Since Medina, the capital of Hechaz, was located at the path of the pilgrims coming from the West to Mecca and was the greatest analogy of civilization among the natives of both parts relative to other countries in the East, according to Ahenjaldún these pilgrims preferred to learn of other capitals that were not less celebrated by their doctors, and that it was introduced and accepted in Spain, the Málic school of jurisprudence founded in the literal tradition, rather than the one in Abuhanifa which serves as the base of deduction and first analogy. The Almouata and the Almodauana were a collection of traditions and a kind of digest enclosing the decisions of the famous doctor of law, both forming the system of jurisprudence taught by him. These were the two works preferentially studied by Traditionalists native of Murcia in their wanderings .
Orihuela
Once fulfilled the religious precept, these returned to their country after being enlightened by the acquired teachings, which they passed to their children and countrymen, many of them deserving for their knowledge the highest positions of public administration in their own cities or neighbourhoods, especially the position of Qadi or general judge, notary, injustice repairman, market police, prayer president, preacher of the mosque and others, and these posts could be passed on from father to son together with the instruction. So after Fadl, son of Amíra, a native of Orihuela, the first Qadi of Todmir, mentioned Arab authors, he appears covered with equal dignity under the orders of emir Alháquem, the son of someone called Abderráman, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, who died in 841 or 842, and passed his position on to his younger brother named after his father, Fadl, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, who died in 878 or 879 .
A son of the Qadi Abderráman, son of Fadl, named Asorah and nicknamed Abulósna, native of Murcia, moved after traveling some capitals of Spain to Caireuan and then to Egypt where he stayed for some time completing his education and listening to the most famous traditionalists of his time, and died at one hundred and five years of age in 907 or 908. Qadi Fadl, son of Fadl, son of Amíra, had two sons named Amíra and Abderráman, both natives of Orihuela, who later started as lawyers right next to their father, marched to the East, the former did so some time after the latter, in order to fulfill the religious precept of the pilgrimage and improve his education; the first of them died in 897 or 898 and the second was surprised by death on the road on return from the pilgrimage in 906 or 907. After Abderráman, son of Fadl, and before his brother appears Jálid as Qadi of Todmir, Jálid, son of Almotain, nicknamed Aburazin, a native of Elvira where he had exercised the same position before. Some of these native Todmir lawyers who marched to the East established their residence there devoted to the study and teaching. Such was Ybrahim, son of Muza, nicknamed Abuishac, who lived in Egypt, Mecca, and Baghdad, and lastly returned to the first region where he died in 912 or 913. The following people are cited among others as famous traditionalists and natural philosophers of Lorca: Jalaf, son of Jalaf, son of Hixem, who died in 916 or 917; Mohámed, son of Chonaidin, of acute and insightful ingenuity for interpreting the meaning of phrases, died in 933 or 934; Hafs, son of Mohámed, son of Hafs, a disciple of Abulósna, son of Abderráman, Qadi of the region, son of Fadl, died in 936 or 937; Málic, son of Turail, nicknamed Abulcásim, who died in Orihuela at 80 years of age in 965 or 966: a son of the aforementioned Jalaf, named Áhmed and nicknamed Abulabas, who was taught by his father-in-law and tradition and died in 967 or 968 at 82 years of age; Abdála, son of Asuad, who died in 973 or 974; Mohámed; son of Batal, son of Uahab, the Temimi, who made two trips to the East - the first in 939 and the second in 957 on which he listened to many famous doctors and, once back in Spain, taught tradition in Cordoba, and died in Lorca in 976 or 977. It was often the case in Arab Spain that many men illustrious for science and religion came out of their study and meditation to fight in the front row against Christians in the North; among them is worthy of special mention the famous jurist and ascetic of the Todmir choir who won the dictation of "Martyr of the Holy War". His name was Mohámed, son of Abulhisam Táhir, and he was a man of extraordinary merit, since after making his first studies in his hometown and in Cordoba he went to the East where he spent several years between Medina, Mecca, Jerusalem, and other cities, getting the fame of his knowledge to be known from East to West. When he returned to Todmir, he established his home in Murcia on the outskirts of the capital in a farmhouse belonging to the Benitáhir in which a building was built, decorated with inscriptions and art objects; there was an orchard, which he cultivated himself, and ate fruit from. But not because of this, according to his biographers, he neglected his duty in the holy war. He left the delights of his home and joined the ranks of Mohámed, son of Abuámir Almanzor, and their leaders attending the conquest of Zamora and Coimbra, and later went back to marabout from the border, becoming famous for his courage and prowess until he was killed in the campaign of Talavera in 988 or 989.
It is curious to see how the familiar tendency of serving in positions of responsibility on the legal and religious grounds does not change with the change of location. There are many that were forced to migrate to another city before the Christian advance, without it meaning a change in position.
They were ulemas that made the rihla. But the second family of importance with regards to the ulama are the Banû Jattâb and the Banû Abî Yamra. The descendants of this character join the world of the ulama in 222/836-837 when his great-grandson and his two sons make the pilgrimage, study in Egypt and Qayrawân with one of the teachers they had in this city. Sahnûn study their legal compilation, the Mudawwana, and it's the transmission of this work that keeps them in the world of the ulama. In the period under study it does not seem that they were appointed as Qadis. Their activity happened in the second half of s. III/IX and draws attention to the high percentage of those who do the rihla, which was undoubtedly affected by Tudmir's geographical location. One of the destinations is still Misr, where one of the ulamas even gets to settle, with which other Andalusians will study. Ibn Waddâh's generation does not seem to have exercised any influence, while the change was noticeable in the influence of Fadl b. Salama, a teacher based in Pechina. Finally in Lorca and Orihuela the ulamas of these two places die early IV/X century. They study in Cordoba, Pechina and Elvira, but they don't do the rihla and dedicate themselves to fiqh. Contrarily to Tudmir, in Lorca there was a disciple of Ibn Waddâh.
Hellin
The archaeological fieldwork carried out in El Tolmo de Minateda (Hellín, Albacete) has made it possible to recover the traces of an Islamic and Visigoth town that was abandoned during the second half of the 9th century AC. In the archaeological contexts of use, abandonment and destruction of the emiral town a series of coins both Islamic and of earlier periods have been found. The contextualization of the numismatic record permits a comprehensive vision of the monetary circulation in this emiral town and allows us to offer some further views of historical, numismatic, and archaeological character.
The archaeological fieldwork carried out in El Tolmo de Minateda (Hellín, Albacete) has made it possible to recover the traces of an Islamic and Visigoth town that was abandoned during the second half of the 9th century AC. In the archaeological contexts of use, abandonment and destruction of the emiral town a series of coins both Islamic and of earlier periods have been found. The contextualization of the numismatic record permits a comprehensive vision of the monetary circulation in this emiral town and allows us to offer some further views of historical, numismatic, and archaeological character.
Excavations at the Tolman Minateda with the basilica in the center.
Source: http://www.hellin.net/getsemani/HELLIN.htm
Source: http://www.hellin.net/getsemani/HELLIN.htm
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