There are many memories, historical situations, images, exploits and edifices, which the Omani writer, Saud bin Ali al-Harithi, tells and draws in detail through the chapters of his book “Andalusia: A Tour Between Two Times,” recently published in Muscat (2022) by the Luban Foundation.
Al-Harithi dives through the pages of his book into the history of Andalusia, and roams between these Andalusian cities that live on the borders of two worlds, and you cannot be free from one of them.
Does she long for her great kings, poets and writers who sang in love with the homeland of beauty, art and creativity?
The book reviews many constants and important milestones in the history of Andalusia, starting with Tariq bin Ziyad's conquest of that country, his ability to end the rule of the Visigoths in Spain, the rush of his entire army towards the Iberian Peninsula, and raising the banner of Islam on the European continent for the first time.
And it deals with those secrets that the days revealed to the Muslim generations successively, and how the military commander, Tariq bin Ziyad, set out to annex new countries to civilization and the Islamic state, and to invite non-Arab peoples and peoples to enter Islam, achieving victories and glories, and he was beside those great goals paving the way, and facilitating the bumpy road ahead The last of the ruling Umayyad dynasty in Damascus, to become the country of Andalusia as an extension and center of the Umayyad caliphate, to receive and embrace 3 decades later (Saqr Quraish), Abd al-Rahman bin Muawiya bin Abd al-Malik, who established the Umayyad state in Andalusia and ruled it and his successors for 3 centuries.
Omani author and writer Saud bin Ali Al Harthy (German)
Memories, exploits and edifications
The book also talks about the greatest memories that the country of Andalusia embraces in terms of memories, stances, images, exploits, monuments, and a golden history of a glorious and honorable Islamic era, which delights the heart and makes Arabs and Muslims proud of it alike.
It also talks about failures, betrayals, shame, and painful and unfortunate tragedies that grieve, hurt, and ache at the same time, and deep lessons that the author believes have not been benefited from throughout history since the Islamic kingdoms of Andalusia turned into a plaything in the hands of the kings of the sects.
And it tells how Andalusia was transformed from one of the cities of Islamic civilization, into a scene of fall, fissions and ruptures, strife and abhorrent fanaticism that destroy and destroy people, land, values, civilization, scientific and urban legacy achieved, conflicts and civil wars, and sect kings who reproduce and inherit the Arab and Islamic kingdoms, and weakness that leads to weakness and decline worse. And sharper and deeper.
The pages of the book narrate how Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and handed over with that great conquest the keys of Europe to the Arabs and Muslims, not only Spain so that they could continue the march. Several decades later, Saqr Quraish established an Islamic kingdom in Andalusia, with its center in Cordoba. And universities, and Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Valencia and Toledo became a destination for pioneers, students of knowledge, thinkers and professors from all over the world, and how Andalusia in the Umayyad era reached the height of its prosperity, prosperity and prosperity in various fields.
Historical stations
And the author of the book "Andalusia Touring Between Two Times" continues to narrate the details of the most prominent stations in the history of Andalusia, since that country was conquered by the leader Tariq bin Ziyad, and until the third day of January 1492, when Abu Abdullah al-Saghir rode the last king of the sects, On horseback, he turned his back (the part of the famous Al-Hamra Palace), which was built by the Muslim king Muhammad bin Yusuf bin Muhammad bin Al-Ahmar, heading to his exile, after he handed over the keys of Granada to the leader of the Franks (Ferdinand), thus ending the Muslim rule of Spain and restoring the Goths as rulers over it.
The author shows how these intertwined and disparate events drew the history of Spain during its Islamic era and revealed many facts and lessons.
He also shed light on the rescue operation carried out by the Almoravids and the Almohads, which was the process that delayed the fall of the Islamic kingdoms in Spain, through the great battle of Zalaqa on October 23, 1086 AD, led by Yusuf bin Tashfin and Al-Mutamid bin Abbad, which was the last achievement of Muslims in this Bekaa, as they soon suffered a heavy defeat in 1212 that restricted Islamic rule in Spain to the small kingdom of Granada, until Granada itself fell in 1492.
Contemporary Journey
And because the one who hears is not like one who has seen, nor the one who reads in the pages of history as one who has witnessed and seen with his own eyes, the author of the book “Andalusia is a circumambulation between two times” was keen to include in the book the details of his trip to Spain, and his visit to the landmarks of Andalusia, those spots that poets and writers lamented with tears. From inks and pages and eyes and epics of poetry and literary texts.
The author, Saud bin Ali Al-Harthy, told us the motives and incentives that led him to the land of Andalusia, and how feelings of joy and happiness deepened within him on his way to the airport.
And he confirms that all of this is a true expression of the exclusivity of the journey, of the place occupied by Andalusia (Paradise Lost) in the hearts, of the cultural richness and captivating Islamic architecture, of the unique cultural diversity and the prosperous life that attracted nations and peoples, scientists and industrialists, thinkers, creators and philosophers, doctors and astronomers. Travelers, writers, poets and professors in various fields and disciplines.
The author describes the country of Andalusia as "the land in which the Arabs lived with other races and peoples, active and influential, productive and creative, aware of their capabilities and capabilities that qualified them to be masters of the world, so they invested them in a way that serves their faith and reforms the affairs and conditions of nations and peoples, coexisting, tolerating, and believing in the values and principles of their religion that they applied on the ground." Indeed and in practice, they were a unique human model in their global environment before this world applied its democratic systems.
An example of Islamic values
The author considered that "the Arab-Islamic rule in Andalusia provided a model for the great values of Islam, and a remarkable success in practicing them in practice through images of coexistence, tolerance, and acceptance of different races, religions, creeds and cultures. In his court, he celebrates competent ministers, great poets, scientists, doctors and thinkers of different races and religions.
He pointed out that the Jews found in Andalusia an outlet of freedom that they did not find in their ancient and modern history of appreciation, respect, and decent living protected by those lofty values from all troubles and disturbances, in the lofty palaces of Andalusia, its dense schools and universities, its singing art, its sparkling water streams, and its spacious squares, where life was woven. Epics and tournaments, and established councils of science and literature rich in dialogues and high-level debates for the intellectuals, writers, scholars, thinkers, politicians and great leaders who contained the best and dearest of sciences and literature: Ibn al-Fadl - Ibn Rushd - Ibn al-Khatib - Ibn Baja - Ibn Abd Rabbo and his unique contract - Al-Majriti - Al-Zahrawi - Ibn Hazem - Ibn Al-Bitar - Al-Mansur bin Abi Amer, who "conquered 54 raids in his life, was never defeated in one of them."
The author tells us about an endless series of scientists, doctors, astronomers, leaders, and politicians who dazzled the world, and like each one of them, an independent school that is still to this day watering the students of the world with its aromas, and presented the world with the eyes of poetry, the nectar of knowledge, the masterpieces of arts and architecture, the beauty of industries and crafts, and unparalleled love stories. , and that flirtatious flirtatious poetry that is palatable and tasted by souls, and remained preserved and documented in the hearts and repeated by tongues without interruption in all times and places and in various languages.