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of which Almanzor proposed to send that general against the Christians; and Abdelmelic Almudafar despatched him into Andalusia accordingly without any delay.

About the same time, the fortifications of Gebal Almina, a lofty hill to the east of Medina Cebta, were constructed, also by order of Muhamad Almanzor, who had remarked the level space upon its summit when he passed through that city, and saw that the plain there presented was well calculated for the establishment of such defences. It was, indeed, his purpose to transport the city itself to the summit of the hill; but after his death, they could never succeed in removing the dwellers from their seats below; and as the people thus persisted in retaining their ancient abode, the town commenced on the heights of Almina fell to ruin.

Abdelmelic meanwhile continued in Medina Fez, governing the city and state with justice and prudence, and giving cause of complaint to no man; yet, at the end of six months, his father wrote commanding him to return to Spain, sending Iza Ben Said, Sahib Xarta of Cordova, to assume the government in his place. That ruler retained his office accordingly until the moon Safar, in the year 389, when Almanzor deprived him also of his government, confiscating all his possessions, and sending the General Wadha El Feti to govern in his stead. Iza Ben Said returned to Spain in the same year.

About this time Galib Ben Omeya Ben Galib of Moron, called Abulasi, an erudite and much renowned poet, was pacing along the shore of the Guadalquiver where that river flows by Cordova, and being in sight of the Alcazar or royal palace, his meditations resolved themselves into the following verses :--

"Palace of royal state, proud Alcazar :

What rich delights within thy walls are found:
May thy good star preserve thee from all harm!

How many powerful monarchs have thy roofs
Seen pass beneath their splendours. Yet the stars
Now calmly look upon the silent graves
Of kings and heroes who have there abode.

Tell to the world, then, whose admiring eyes
Look on thy seeming steadfastness-that all
Is but deceit. Say, that of earth's delights
Not one hath permanence; and bid all know
That Time holds ever on his measured course.

Yea, that we long for, as the morning sun
Brightens the scene, we shun at close of day
With trembling or disdain. Doth not all change?
Where now are thy proud lords, imperial Syria ?
Where their high dwellings-columns, arches, towers;
The shining gold and azure of their halls,

Their strength and splendour?-each alike hath flown,
And scarcely now remains a trace of all

More than of some poor nest of ants, low-niched
At foot of lofty mountain. Better far
Are ye who, sheltered in your lowly vales,
Live in remote tranquillity. Seek not

The height sublime, whose giddy summit bends
Sheer o'er the precipice. Let not thy foot
Press those illusive paths that beckon upwards:
Rest thou below. For if o'er the deep valleys
The clouds gloom darkly at the break of morn,
Yet these before might of day shall flee,
Leaving the plains to calm security.

Zeiri Ben Atia had, meanwhile, arrived in the territory of Sanhaga, which he found in a state of revolt against its sovereign, Badis Ben Mansur Ben Balkin, who had been at variance with the nobles of his people from the time of his father's death. Availing himself of that occasion, Zeiri Ben Atia then sent to request assistance from the Zenete Cabilas, when a large body of cavalry instantly joined him from Magarava and other places. He then fell on the Comarcas of Sanhaga, which he subjugated, driving the troops of his opponent from the district, and proceeding to Medina Tahart, of which he took possession, as he did of other towns in the territory of Zaub. He also made himself master successively of Telencen, Xelf, and Masila; but in each of these places he took care to have the name of the King Hixem El Muyad Billah proclaimed in the streets.

Having laid siege to Medina Axiada, which was the chief of all the towns in Sanhaga, Zeiri there maintained a battle with his enemies from the dawn of morning until late in the

afternoon, when the violent exertions he made re-opened the wounds received from the Negro Zalem,—and of these he died. This event took place in the year 391.

CHAP. CII.-OF THE BATTLE OF CALAT ANOSOR, AND THE DEATH OF
THE HAGIB MUHAMAD ALMANZOR.

In the year 390, Muhamad Almanzor marched once more on the frontier of eastern Spain, and the Christians came forth against him with a powerful host; but he attacked them without delay, and the Christian generals, who now feared him as one who held the Sword of Destiny, were again defeated and humbled by his hand. Heavy was the doom they suffered, and unhappy were the memories that he left among them of that battle of Hisn Dhervera. He devastated their lands, destroyed their fortresses, and burnt their towns ;-the country which had once been a thickly peopled one was made a desert; seeing that the Infidels themselves burnt their own villages, hamlets, and dwellings of all kinds, to the end that our people might not profit by the shelter they afforded.

All these things accomplished, the Hagib Muhamad Almanzor returned to Cordova in triumph; and it was then that Ahmed Ben Bordi, called Abu Hafas, one of the most learned viziers of the capital, presented him with his poetical works, while Suleiman Ben Golghal also laid before the Hagib his book, wherein he treats of such of the physicians of Spain as had been most extensively renowned for their learning in the medical sciences.

At that time it chanced that the Vizier Hassan Ben Melic Ben Abi Obda, an elegant and accomplished poet, entered the chamber of Muhamad Almanzor to pay him a visit, when he found the Hagib holding in his hands the Proverbs of Sohal Ben Abi Galib, known as Abu Serri, a work which had been compiled and written for the Caliph Harun Raxid,-and Almanzor said to him, "I am much pleased with the elegance of this book, and enjoy its merits; but the work still requires one thing to render it complete :

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it wants a good commentary." Hearing this, the vizier Hassan requested the Hagib to give him the book, and, having received the same, retired with it to his house. A week only had elapsed from that time, when he again appeared in the palace of Almanzor, to whom he now presented a learned commentary on the work of Sohal, in three hundred verses, of which he had made a beautiful copy, and this he now laid before the Hagib. Of this composition Muhamad Almanzor was accustomed to say, that the commentary of Hassan Ben Melic was the most elegant work ever written in Spain, and the same thing was affirmed by Husein Ben Walid Abulcasim in the academies of Almanzor, where Hassan, the author of the commentary, was at that time competing in poetical improvisation with Abulola Said Ben Alhassan, and with Gehuar El Tegibi, known as Aben Floriso of Almeria.

In the year 391, there departed for the East, Abderahman Ben Cid Amon of Ucles, a disciple of Abu Othman Ben Said Ben Salem El Mageriti, so called from his native place Magerit, in the territory of Toledo; a man widely renowned in Africa, Egypt, and the Iracas, not only for his great knowledge, but for his exemplary life. Now El Taglebi of Cordova was once sojourning with Abu Othman at Medina Bagdad, and one day, the former going forth from the city, arrived at certain rustic abodes at no great distance, where he found a Saqui, or water-carrier, who held in his hand a beautifully cut and graven glass of crystal, formed with extraordinary grace, and filled with the purest and clearest water. It was then the season of roses, which had, however, but just begun, and El Taglebi, gathering some very fresh ones, placed them in that crystalline water, which looked all empurpled with the glow of the flowers as they shone through the transparency of the glass.

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"Now as I was examining all this attentively," relates El Taglebi, "the water-carrier said to me, 'What art thou looking at, Mogrebi? dost thou stand thus admiring the beauty of the roses ?' To which I made answer and said, "Yea, that do I: seen thus in that crystal vase, the beauty of the roses enchants me.' 'Hear, then,' rejoined the water-carrier, 'a thought of mine concerning this flower and vase.' Whereupon he repeated the lines that follow

'The rose! the rose! she holds the throne of flowers;
Her empire none declines:

To her the blossoms bend in all their bowers,

Their lovely queen, the rose, supreme she shines." "

And now, that the Christians might not have repose for a single year, the Hagib Muhamad Almanzor commanded the assemblage of a large army: cavalry, from the African provinces made an important part of this force; and the first division of those troops disembarked at Algezira Alhadra, while the second was landed at Santa Maria, in Ocsonoba. The governor of Santarem, in Algarva, Farhon Ben Abdallah Ben Abdelwalid, also assembled a large body of cavalry, as did the Walies of Merida and Badajos, who summoned all the banners of their territories, respectively, to take part in the conflict about to be renewed. The banners of Toledo were in like manner assembled; and in the year 392, the Hagib Muhamad Almanzor commenced his march upon the Comarcas of the Christian territories with a great and powerful host.

The report of these preparations caused a similar movement among the Infidels, and they gathered all their force to go forth against Almanzor. The Moslemah were arranged in two great divisions: the first comprising the cavalry of Andalusia, and the second that of Africa. The stream of war then poured itself over the country on each bank of the Douro, without meeting resistance at any part, and the march of the invading forces was continued along that river, even to its sources.

The Christians had meanwhile established their camp in the Comarca of Calat Anosor, and had divided their host into three great bodies, which covered the face of the country with their multitudes, as do the widely extended clouds of the locust, when they come darkening all the plains.

When the advanced guard of the Moslemah discovered the camp of the Infidels, and reported the vast extent over which the broad wings thereof were spread, the hearts of the Faithful were troubled, and they represented the same to the Hagib Muhamad Almanzor, who thereupon made a recognizance in person, and, having examined the position of the enemy, then arranged his troops for the battle.

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