The Moor's Last Laugh

The Wall Street Journal ^ | March 22, 2004 | Fauad Ajani

[xJones]

In the legend of Moorish Spain, the last Muslim king of Granada, Boabdil, surrendered the keys to his city on January 2, 1492, and on one of its hills, paused for a final glance at his lost dominion. The place would henceforth be known as El Ultimo Suspiro del Moro -- "the Moor's Last Sigh." Boabdil's mother is said to have taunted him, and to have told him to "weep like a woman for the land he could not defend as a man." An Arab poet of our own era gave voice to a historical lament when he wrote that as he walked the streets of Granada, he searched his pockets for the keys to its houses. Al Andalus -- Andalusia -- would become a deep wound, a reminder of dominions gained by Islam and then squandered. No wonder Muslim chroniclers added "May Allah return it to Islam," as they told and retold Granada's fate.

[xJones]

"Weep like a woman for the land he could not defend as a man." This was before dynamite and bomb vests, of course.

[xJones]

I'm just trying to get some traffic for a European-Muslim thread.

[Qwinn]

"Were it only true that those in harm's way in Europe are solely the friends of the Americans."

Gee, nice sentiment, thanks.

Qwinn

[McGavin999]

Very interesting. I think europe is in terrible trouble and they are going to have to do something about this immediately.....before it's too late.

[xJones]

Very interesting. I think europe is in terrible trouble and they are going to have to do something about this immediately.....before it's too late.

With the birth rate disparity the way it is.....things don't look so good.

[witnesstothefall]

I'm just trying to get some traffic for a European-Muslim thread

Well you asked for it.

The writer is mangling his own cultural history. Boadbil's mother's reproach not to "weep like a woman for the land he could not defend as a man" was not made in reference to the ongoing war against the infidel Christians. She was scorning him for not fighting to regain the throne in Grenada in a concurrent civil war among the Muslims.

If Grenada had not been a kingdom divided against itself, it is very doubtful whether the Christians would have vanquished the Muslims so decisively in the 15th century. The dual monarchy deserves great credit for shrewdly playing the Muslims off against each other.....

[xJones]

Thank you, that is most interesting.

[Darheel]

"The Moor's Last Laugh... and, hopefully, it's last breath along with it."

[xJones]

I don't wish for their last brath, I'd just like to see them go back home and resolve their own problems. Of course, that would mean that they'd all kill each other unless they could resolve their own problems.

[Fledermaus]

Geez, once they fight 1492 all over again, what are they going to do for the next 512 years of history?

[lainde]

bttt

[xJones]

Geez, once they fight 1492 all over again, what are they going to do for the next 512 years of history?

Well, that's a tough one....they didn't do anything really after 1492.

[forrestroche]

"If Grenada had not been a kingdom divided against itself, it is very doubtful whether the Christians would have vanquished the Muslims so decisively in the 15th century."



Very true. As you say, Isabel and Ferdinand played one side (sometimes many sides) off against the other(s). Interesting also is the fact that todays fundamentalists would call the Moors of 15th (and 14th) century Spain (or al-Andalus), decadent and spiritually corrupt. They presided over a highly advanced and tolerant society that included christians and jews, and that was THE center of learning, finance, and culture on the Iberian peninsula, if not all of Europe. That is not the memory of Iberia, however, that they cherish.

One note (made respectfully): Granada, not Grenada.

forrest

[Darheel]

If we want our children to breathe free we must understand the threat and neutralize it. If 9/11 wasn't enough to help you understand that the Moor is coming HERE so we have to hit him THERE, I won't be able to convince you.

FReegards, Darheel

[witnesstothefall]

todays fundamentalists would call the Moors of 15th (and 14th) century Spain (or al-Andalus), decadent and spiritually corrupt.

Quite so. At the siege of Malaga (1488), the Muslim defender el Zegri relied not on Allah and the Qu'ran but on a mystic apostate astrologer to divine the moment to attack.

They found Hamet el Zegri, not, as before, surrounded by ferocious guards and all the implements of war, but in a chamber of one of the lofty towers, at a table of stone covered with scrolls traced with strange characters and mystic diagrams, while instruments of singular and unknown form lay about the room. Beside Hamet stood the prophetic dervise, who appeared to have been explaining to him the mysterious inscriptions of the scrolls.

The "tolerance" of which you speak was not one we would recognize today. When Malaga finally fell, over 1500 starving Christian slaves were liberated, many having been in captivity for decades.

[prognostigaator]

As if written by a muslim .

[maica]

You can't agitate against Mubarak in Cairo, but you can do it from the safety of Finsbury Park in London. The ferocity of the debate in the Arab world about France's decision to limit Islamic headgear in public schools is a measure of this displaced rage. Spain may attribute the cruelty visited on it to its association with America's expedition into Iraq. But the truth is darker. Jacques Chirac may believe that he has spared France Spain's terror by sitting out the Iraq war. But he is deluded. The Islamists do not make fine distinctions in the bilad al kufr.

This is one of the most profoundly depressing articles I have read - stats on how the future of Europe may play out - and many Very good reasons for USA not to even Try to pretend that we value the 'alliance' with France.

World population has doubled since WWII - largely with the assistance of the USA in technology and financial aid.

Look at the demographics of Europe - suicide of the west by birth control!

[BunnySlippers]

•

[MissAmericanPie]

"Quite so. At the siege of Malaga (1488), the Muslim defender el Zegri relied not on Allah and the Qu'ran but on a mystic apostate astrologer to divine the moment to attack."

That is interesting, it sounds alot like Ez 21:21.

[twigs]

Somewhere I read that Boabdil locked a door in the Alhambra with those keys and that it has never been unlocked to this day. That sounds a little too fantastic for me. Does anyone know about it?