he was left to die, while his son, having his feet also cut off, was then thrown into a dungeon. In all this the commands of Abu Meruan were obeyed without hesitation.

The King Abu Meruan was much beloved by his subjects, since he treated them with infinite consideration, and ruled them justly. In his house the fires of hospitality were burning day and night, and he was the never-failing protector of all who were in need. His friendship and alliance with the King of Saragossa and with El Cambitor, the general of the Christians, enabled him to maintain his independence, which was besides assured by his good government and by the sound policy that he pursued.

The expedition to the islands had just been happily completed, when Syr Ben Abi Bekir received intelligence to the effect that Valencia had been taken by the Christians, an event which was made known to him by the governor of Almeria, a son of that Ahmed Aben Gehaf whom the Cambitor had burnt to death, as hath been related. Hearing this, Syr Ben Bekir gathered all his force, and sent a vast army, composed of Moors from Lamtuna and Masamuda, with a large body of cross-bowmen, to the attack and siege of that place, whither he himself repaired with all speed.

Then the Christians, with the Moslemah their allies, perceiving that they could not maintain the city against so great a force, and having no hope of succours, abandoned the place, but not until after they had endured a long siege, during which there were fought many sanguinary skirmishes and obstinate battles. The persistence of the Almoravides nevertheless prevailed in the end, and God restored it happily to Islam. That event occurred in the moon of Regib, in the year 495; and when the restitution of the place became known, many of the nobles and learned men who had retired on the entrance of the Christians to Syria, Murcia, and Jaen, returned to Valencia and resumed their abode within the walls of that city. Among these persons was Muhamad Aben Bahr, Ben Aasi Alansari, a native of Siria, and a Xeque in his own land, who had fled to Jaen, and had remained there nearly seven years, devoting himself to the study of letters, in company with Abu Hegag Alkefiz and Meruan Aben Zerag. Having returned thither, as we have said, in the year that Valencia was restored to Islam,

Aben Bahr became Almocri, or reader, in the Great Mosque of that city.

Muhamad Aben Bahr wrote a work on the Variations of the Alcoran, in which he displayed much critical acumen; ultimately he retired to his native place of Siria, where he died in the year 547. His departure took place at the hour of dawn, and on a Sunday, which was the 6th of the moon Xawal. He was buried in the Makbura of Beni Zenoun, by the people of that place, and the prayer was made for him by his brother Abu Muhamad. Aben Bahr was born in the year 470.

In the year 496 died Abdelmelik Abu Meruan, Lord of Aben Razia: he was succeeded by his son, Yahye Ben Abdelmelik, but as a dependant on the city of Valencia.

CHAP. XXIII.-JUZEF ABEN TAXFIN REVISITS THE LAND OF SPAIN. OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TAKEN TO HIS SON ALY. RETURN OF JUZEF TO AFRICA, AND HIS DEATH IN THAT COUNTRY.

THE affairs of Spain having been thus successfully brought to an issue by his generals Davoud Ben Aixa and Syr Abu Bekir, Juzef Aben Taxfin repaired to that country in the year 496 to visit his new states. On that occasion there passed the sea in his company two of his sons, the elder of whom was called Abu Tair Temim, and the younger Abul Hassan Aly; but the latter, although inferior to his brother in age, was more than his equal in force of mind and strength of character. It was of him that an Andalusian poet of that time wrote the following lines:

Aly, though counting last in years,
Yet by his valour first appears,
As the gemmed ring most dearly graced
Is on the smallest finger placed.

With these his sons, the Ameer of the Moslemah passed through all the provinces of Spain. They were delighted beyond measure as they became aware of the beauties and advantages of the country, and Juzef compared the whole land to an eagle, saying that the head was Toledo, the

beak, Alcala de Raya; the breast, Jaen; the claws, Granada; the right wing, Algarvia; and the left, Axarkia: meaning by all this to intimate the degree of importance attached to the respective portions, and that which was more particularly the part of each, in the government and defence of the whole state.

Having completed his tour of inspection, the king convoked his Xeques with the principal generals of the Almoravides, and in that council he decided to declare his son Aly, who was then in Cordova, the future successor to his states, commanding that all should swear obedience to him and acknowledge him for their lord when his own days should have come to their end. The oath of allegiance was taken accordingly with much solemnity, and amidst a large concourse of nobles and cavaliers, both of Spain and Africa,† the king commanding his Vizier, Abu Ben Abdelgafir, to write the letter which contained the compact of succession,-a document which was conceived in the following terms:

"Pact of the future succession and partition in the government of the empire:- Praises be to God! who granteth mercy to such as serve Him in their inheritances and successions, who hath created kings to be heads of states for the preservation of peace and concord among the people.

"As the Ameer of the Moslemah, Nasredin Abu Jacub Juzef Aben Taxfin, knows and acknowledges that God hath made him the chief guardian and defender of so many nations, to the end that he may serve Himself and the Faithful; so, fearing lest the day called to-morrow may be that on which it shall please God to demand from him an account of that which He hath confided to him, and given him in charge,

* Or, as others have it, Calatrava.-Condé.

+ Alcodai relates that the Hagib Amad-Dolah Abu Meruan Abdelmelic, a grandson of Almuctadir Billah, King of Saragossa, came to this ceremony among other great chiefs, having been sent thither by his father with a present of singular rarity and value, whereupon Juzef commanded that Kirates of gold should be made of the same, and distributed those coins among the people of Cordova on the day of the Festival of the Hidnihar.- Condé.

and to the intent that he may not then be found to have neglected the duty of leaving in his place one who shall protect the people as their king, and shall govern them in peace and justice; since, also, it is certainly known that God commands to make a testament and the disposition of matters involving less important consequences,-and how much more, then, must this obligation be conformable to His divine will in affairs so grave and of so much consideration as that of governing the nations, which is one on the success whereof depends the general welfare, as well of the rich as the poor;-so now the King of the Moslemah, considering that this command toucheth him in particular, inasmuch as that God hath placed beneath his care the government of many peoples,-as in things of this world, so in those pertaining to the Law,-upholding all by the forces of both ends of his lance, and by the temper and keenness of the edge of his sword;-after having well meditated on these things, the King hath found that his younger son, Abul Hassan Aly, is a youth well disposed for great and high things; he is therefore the better prepared to bear upon his shoulders the weight of the administration of a kingdom; wherefore the King of the Moslemah hath selected and appointed, called, proclaimed, and elevated him to the majesty and dignity of the throne, and to the government of the empire, having previously taken counsel of wise and prudent men from all parts-those near as well as those distant; when all, in common accord with the noble Xeques and cavaliers of the kingdom, have freely manifested and made known that they accept and are well satisfied with the succession of Prince Aly here declared, seeing that his own father is contented and satisfied therewith. Thus they receive the youth for their Ameer because the King his father hath chosen and selected him to be Ameer, esteeming him to be worthy of that dignity, and well suited to receive the elevation of the royal majesty."

Then the Prince Aly was called to the presence of his father and the council, when the king proposed to him the conditions on which he had been named the successor and heir of his dominions, to which the Prince replied, that he accepted and was highly content with the same, resolving

on his part to fulfil the duties which they involved. The lot of the Istihara was then cast, invocations being made to Allah, with entreaties for His favour and aid to render all secure, since all power and prosperity are in His hand.

After these things the King Juzef uttered a solemn exhortation to his son, impressing upon his mind such truths as he deemed convenient and best calculated to assist him in the accomplishment of his great duties, the prince repeating his promises and expressing his desire to serve God and fulfil the intentions of his father.

Next the Vizier Alcatib produced a document to certify that all then present were content with that succession, and confirmed their acceptance thereof; those Xeques who were absent doing the same by their procurators. Furthermore was then added that the prince, the sworn successor to the empire, had heard and understood the conditions of his succession, and that he had accepted them; all which the Vizier Alcatib signed with his name. That oath of allegiance was sworn in the moon Dylhagia of the year 496.

Now the conditions and commandments which King Juzef had proposed and laid upon his son in relation to the government of the empire, were on this wise: the Alcaidias and governments of provinces, cities, and fortresses, were to be confided thenceforward and for ever to the Almoravides of the tribe of Lamtuna; but the guardianship of the frontiers and the war against the Christians were to be left to the Moslemah of Andalusia, seeing that they were more experienced and practised in the warfare with those. Infidels, their mode of combat, their stratagems and incursions. Juzef recommended his son to reward those who should distinguish themselves while fighting in his service, with presents of arms and horses, to which vestments and money were to be added on certain occasions. He advised him to maintain a force of seventeen thousand Almoravide cavalry in the Spanish division of the empire, those troops to be distributed to various parts then fixed and determined on by the King of the Moslemah himself, who prescribed the proportions also, and these were: seven thousand to Seville, one thousand to Cordova, three thousand to Granada, and four thousand to the Axarkia; the remaining two thousand