Monday, May 18, 2026

The 100 Greatest Muslims: 33: Musa ibn Nusayr, Eighth Century Arab General and Governor Who Ruled Over the North Africa and Directed the Conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania and

 Musa ibn Nusayr

"Though Muslims first made inroads into North Africa during the reign of Caliph Umar, the Byzantines re-conquered their lost territories during the conflict which ensued between Caliph Ali and Muawiyah; thus the Muslims were not able to consolidate their presence in North Africa at the time.  After Muawiyah ascended the Umayyad throne in 661, he not only reunited the Muslim world under his leadership but also launched expeditions to North Africa and thereby brought a large part of that region back under Umayyad authority.  Under the able leadership of Uqba ibn Nafi, the Umayyad forces drove out the Byzantines and in 670 the Muslims founded the historic city of Qayrawan (in present-day Tunisia), thus consolidating Islamic power in that region for the first time.  Following Uqba's ousting from power in 672, Abu Muhajir Dinar was appointed governor, but he proved to be both incompetent and ineffective.  To make matters worse, Yazid then ascended the Umayyad throne in 680 and, having taken his eyes off events in North Africa, he engaged in a war of attrition with fellow Muslims at home.  This enabled the Byzantines to recover and inflict a crushing defeat on the North African Muslims.  In desperation, Yazid recalled Uqba ibn Nafi from retirement and sent him to the Maghreb to prevent the impending military disaster.  On his arrival, Uqba swiftly reorganized the Muslim army under his leadership and drove back the Byzantines, extending Umayyad rule all the way to the Atlantic coast.  However, soon afterwards Uqba and his forces were soundly defeated by the North African Berber tribes and, again, the Umayyad grip on that region became precarious until the heroic Muslim general Musa ibn Nusayr emerged to permanently establish an Islamic presence in that part of the world."   (Page 220 of The Muslim 100: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History by Muhammad Mojlum Khan.)

Musa ibn Nusayr (Mūsá bin Nuṣayr; b. c. 640, Hebron – d. c. 716, Hejaz) was an Arab general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I.  He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya) and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania (Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal, Andorra and part of southern France).

Various suggestions have been made as to his ancestry. Some say his father belonged to the Lakhmid clan of semi-nomads who lived east of the Euphrates and were allies of the Sassanians, while others claim he belonged to the Banu Bakr confederation. One account stated that Musa's father was taken captive after the fall of the Mesopotamian city of Ayn al-Tamr (633). According to this account, he was an Arab Christian who was one of a number being held hostage there. However, al-Baladhuri,  relating the same events, states he was an Arab of the Bali tribe, from Jabal al-Jalil in Palestine.

As a slave, Musa's father entered the service of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (governor of Egypt and son of the caliph Marwan I) who gave him his freedom. He returned to Syria where Musa was born at a place called Kafarmara or Kafarmathra. The date of his birth has been given as 640.

Musa was made co-governor of Iraq by the caliph Abd al-Malik, together with the caliph's brother Bishr ibn Marwan. There was some quarrel over missing tax money, and Musa was given the choice: pay a huge fine or pay with his head. His father's patron, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, had a high opinion of Musa, and paid the ransom. He was later responsible for appointing Musa to be governor of Ifriqiya.

Hasan ibn al-Nu'man was sent all the way to Morocco to continue the Islamic conquest in North Africa.  He was relieved of his command for allowing continuing Byzantine attacks. Musa bin Nusayr was then sent to renew the attacks against the Berbers. But he did not impose Islam by force, rather, he respected Berber traditions and used diplomacy in subjugating them. This proved highly successful, as many Berbers converted to Islam and even entered his army as soldiers and officers, possibly including Tariq ibn Ziyad, the man who would later lead the Islamic expedition into Iberia.

In 698, Musa was made the governor of Ifriqiya and was responsible for completing the conquest of North Africa and of the Balearic Islands and Sardinia. He was the first governor of Ifriqiya not to be subordinate to the governor of Egypt. He was the first Muslim general to take Tangiers and occupy it.  His troops also conquered the Sous, effectively taking control of all of the northern half of Morocco. Musa also had to deal with constant attacks from the Byzantine navy.  In response, he built a navy that would go on to conquer the islands of Ibiza, Majorca, and Menorca. 

Muslim and Christian sources quote that while Musa bin Nusayr was eager to cross the Straights of Gibraltar to Hispania, he determined to do so only when a Visigoth nobleman, Julian, Count of Ceuta,  encouraged him to invade Iberia, telling him of the people's sufferings and the injustice of their king, Roderic, while also giving Musa an incentive for conquest by telling him of the riches that would be found, and of the many palaces, gardens and beauties of Hispania that would Musa's for the taking. Legend tells that Julian wished for the fall of the Visigothic kingdom because his daughter, Florinda la Cava, had been raped by Roderic.

After a successful minor raid on the Spanish coast at Tarifa where the raiding force returned with a booty captured without any reported resistance, Musa decided to land a larger invasion force. Tariq bin Ziyad crossed the strait with approximately 7,000 Berbers and Arabs, and landed at Gibraltar (from Jebel Tariq, meaning Tariq's mountain in Arabic). The expedition's purpose must have been to conduct further raids and explore the territory. Tariq's army contained some guides supplied by Julian. Three weeks after his landing, the Muslims were faced with a superior Visigoth royal army of 30,000 troops under Roderic. The Muslims won the Battle of Guadalete, and the entire Visigoth nobility was all but exterminated at the battle. The Muslims then marched towards Córdoba, bypassing several strong fortifications. The well-defended city fell, and Tariq established a garrison there consisting mainly of the city's Jews who welcomed the invaders, having been subjected to conversion from the Visigoths for centuries. Tariq then continued on his way to Toledo. 

Musa, learning of Tariq's successes, landed in Iberia with an army of 18,000 Berbers and Arabs. He planned to rendezvous with Tariq at Toledo, but first proceeded to take Seville, which Tariq had bypassed, and where Musa met stiff resistance, and succeeded after three months of siege. He then campaigned in the province of Lusitania, eliminating the remaining Gothic resistance there. His last destination before meeting Tariq was to subdue Merida, capital of Lusitania. After five months of siege and inconclusive fighting, a group of Ceutans pretended to be Christian reinforcements and managed to convince the guards into opening the gates. Once inside, the "reinforcements", nearly 700, overwhelmed the guards and managed to keep the gates open for the Muslims to enter the city and capture it.

After Mérida, Musa divided his forces, taking the majority with him to meet Tariq at Toledo where he would remain for the winter. The remainder of his forces were led by his son, 'Abd al-Aziz, who would return to Seville to deal with an uprising. 'Abd al-Aziz made short work of the rebellion. He then conducted several campaigns on the return journey in the territories of Lusitania. Coimbra and Santarem were captured in the spring of 714. 'Abd al-Aziz then campaigned in Murcia. The Duke of Murcia, Theodemir, or Tudmir as he was called by the Muslims, surrendered to 'Abd al-Aziz after several hard-fought engagements in April 713. The terms imposed on Theodemir stated that the duke would keep the citadel of Orihuela and several other settlements, including Alicnate and Lorca on the Mediterranean, that his followers would not be killed, taken prisoner, or forced into Islam, and that their churches would not be burned. It also demanded that Theodemir not encourage or support others to resist the Muslims, and that he and every citizen of his dominion pay an annual tax in money and other goods.

Musa finally met up with Tariq when there was an argument over the latter's booty, which reportedly included a gold table covered with gems and other precious stones that had reputedly once belonged to Solomon. Meanwhile, Musa's messenger, Mughith al-Rumi (the Roman) who had been sent to Caliph al-Walid I to inform him of the situation in Hispania, had returned. The Caliph requested Musa to withdraw and to report in person to Damascus. Musa chose to ignore this order temporarily, knowing that if he did not continue his advance, Visigoth resistance could increase and turn the tables against the Muslims. Having done so, he continued with Tariq to the north. Musa headed for Zaragosa, to which he lay siege, while Tariq continued to the provinces of Leon and Castile, capturing the towns of Leon and Astorga.  Musa continued after taking Zaragoza to the north, taking Oviedo and reaching as far as the Bay of Biscay.  The Islamic conquest of Iberia now complete, Musa proceeded to place governors and prefects throughout the newly conquered Al-Andalus, before returning to Damascus with most of the booty captured from the Jihad.

Both conquerors of Spain were therefore summoned by the caliph to Damascus. Tariq arrived first, according to some accounts. But then the caliph was taken ill. So, the caliph's brother, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik became temporarily in charge, and asked Musa, who was arriving with a cavalcade of soldiers and spoils, to delay his grand entry into the city. He most certainly intended to claim the glories brought from the conquest for himself. But Musa dismissed this request, triumphantly entered Damascus anyway, and brought the booty before the ailing Al-Walid I, which brought Musa and Tariq unprecedented popularity amongst the people of Damascus. Al-Walid I then died a few days later and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman, who demanded that Musa deliver up all his spoils. When Musa complained, Sulayman stripped him of his rank and confiscated all the booty, including the table which had reputedly once belonged to Solomon. 

One of Musa's sons, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, married Egilona who was wife of Roderic. She asked 'Abd al-Aziz why his guests did not bow to him as they used to do in the presence of his father. It was reported that he began to force guests to bow to him. It was rumored that he had secretly become a Christian, and a group of Arabs assassinated him, cut off his head and sent it to the caliph. Sulayman had Musa in his audience when the head arrived, and seeing whose it was, callously asked Musa if he recognized it. Musa maintained his dignity, saying he recognized it as belonging to someone who had always practiced the faith fervently, and cursed the men who had killed him. Another son, Abd Allah, who had acted as governor of Ifriqiya after Musa, was executed on the orders of the caliph on suspicion of having had killed the man who had replaced him.

Musa died naturally while on the Hajj pilgrimage with Sulayman in about the year 715–716. Because of his disgrace, and the misfortunes of his sons, there was a tendency among medieval historians of the Maghreb to attribute his deeds (the conquest of Tangiers and the Sous) to Uqba ibn Nafi.  

The Moroccan peak Jebel Musa is named for Musa bin Nusayr according to the 14th-century Berber Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta. 

Al-Bakri in his al-Maslik wa al-Mamalik, mentions that Musa Ibn Nusayr was buried in Zaragoza. 

Less than 200 years after his death, Musa ibn Nusayr became the subject of fantastic legends. These tales were first recorded in the late 9th or early 10th century by Ibn al-Faqih, who wrote that Musa was ordered by the caliph to investigate reports of a strange city called al-Baht.  Musa marched from Qayrawan to the deserts of Spain and came upon a city that was surrounded by walls with no entrance. Those who attempted to look over the wall became entranced and jumped, laughing deliriously. Musa then proceeded to a nearby lake, which contained copper jars. When opened, a genie emerged from each one.

A more extensive version of the same legend is recorded in "The City of Brass," a tale in One Thousand and One Nights, in which Musa encounters many other marvels, such as a palace filled with jewels, whose only human occupant was the embalmed corpse of a beautiful woman, guarded by two robot warriors.

The 17th-century historian Ibn Abi Dinar used Musa's decline in fortune as an object lesson in the vagaries of human existence, with some exaggerations: "Musa, who had conquered half the inhabited world, who had acquired so many riches, died in poverty, begging alms from passers-by, after having been abandoned by the last of his servants. Overcome by shame and misery, he wished for death, and God gave it to him. I only mention the details of Musa's death to give my contemporaries, who are poorly read, a striking example of the vicissitudes of human life".

"After annexing the entire Maghreb, Musa appointed Tariq as his deputy governor of Morocco, and also instigated a large scale reconstruction programme.  Soon scores of mosques, schools, and colleges were built across the Maghreb and in so doing he encouraged the Berbers to embrace Islam.  His efforts bore fruit as the Berbers began to enter the fold of Islam in their droves.  As such, Musa's role in the conquest of North Africa and the Maghreb, not to mention his role in the conversion of the North African Berbers to Islam, was nothing short of phenomenal.  Indeed, the credit for establishing a permanent Islamic presence in North Africa and the Maghreb must go mainly to Musa.  He stayed in Tangier long enough to devise and implement a functioning political and civil administrative system there and also established several military bases across the Maghreb in order to maintain socio-political peace, order and security throughout that region.  During those early days of Muslim rule in North Africa, Musa's extensive experience as a political operator and military commander stood him in good stead, as the Umayyad Empire expanded rapidly both in the East and the West.  After securing Tangier, he returned to Qayrawan as North Africa's most effective and powerful governor. Thanks to his personal bravery, polished political and diplomatic skills, and great organizational ability, Islam became a permanent part of the North African cultural landscape.  It was also Musa who nominated Tariq ibn Zayid to spearhead the campaign to conquer Gibraltar and Spain.  When Tariq's expedition proved a success, he joined forces with him and brought a significant part of Spain under Umayyad rule."  (Pages 222-3 of The Muslim 100: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History by Muhammad Mojlum Khan.)

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In the second half of the 7th century CC (1st century AH), Byzantine strongholds in North Africa gave way before the Arab advance. Carthage fell in 698. In 705, al-Walid I, the sixth caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, the first great Muslim dynasty centered in Damascus, appointed Musa ibn Nusayr governor in the west.  Musa annexed all of North Africa as far as Tangier (Ṭanjah) and made progress in the difficult task of propagating Islam among the Imazighen. The Christian ruler of Ceuta (Sabtah), Count Julian (variously identified by the Arab chroniclers as a Byzantine, a native Amazigh, or a Visigoth), eventually reached an agreement with Musa to launch a joint invasion of the Iberian Peninsula. 

The invasion of Spain was the result both of a Muslim readiness to invade and of a call for assistance by one of the Visigothic factions, the “Witizans.” Having become dispossessed after the death of King Witiza in 710, they appealed to Musa for support against the usurper Roderick. In April or May of 711, Musa sent an Amazigh army headed by Tariq ibn Ziyad across the passage whose modern name, the Strait of Gibraltar, derives from Jabal al-Ṭāriq.  In July of 711, they were able to defeat Roderick in a decisive battle.

Instead of returning to Africa, Ṭāriq marched north and conquered Toledo (Ṭulayṭulah), the Visigothic capital, where he spent the winter of 711. In the following year Musa himself led an Arab army to the peninsula and conquered Merida (Māridah) after a long siege. He reached Ṭariq in Toledo in the summer of 713. From there he advanced northeast, taking Zaragoza (Saraqusṭah) and invading the country up to the northern mountains. Musa then moved from west to east, forcing the population to submit or flee. Both Musa and Tariq were recalled to Syria by the caliph, and they departed in 714 at the end of the summer; by then most of the Iberian Peninsula was under Muslim control.

The rapid success of the Islamic forces can be explained by the fact that Hispano-Visigoth society had not yet succeeded in achieving a compact and homogeneous integration. The Jews, harassed by the legal ordinances of Toledo, were particularly hostile toward the Christian government. Moreover, the Muslim conquest brought advantages to many elements of society: the burden of taxes was generally less onerous than it had been in the last years of the Visigoth epoch; serfs who converted to Islam (mawālī; singular: mawlā) advanced into the category of freedmen and enrolled among the dependents of some conquering noble; and Jews, who were no longer persecuted, were placed on an equal footing with the Hispano-Romans and Goths who still remained within the Christian fold. Thus, in the first half of the 8th century, a new society developed in Muslim Spain. The Arabs were the ruling element; a distinction was made between baladiyyūn (i.e., Arabs who had entered Spain in 712 under Musa) and Syrians (who arrived in 740 under Balj ibn Bishr). Below them in status were the Imazighen, who made up the majority of the invading troops, whose numbers and influence continued to grow over the course of centuries because of their steady influx from Africa. Then came the native population who had converted to Islam, the musālimah, and their descendants, the muwallads; many of them were also mawali (i.e., connected by patronage with an Arab) or even themselves of Amazigh lineage. This group formed the majority of the population because during the first three centuries social and economic motives induced a considerable number of natives to convert to Islam. Christians and Jews who kept their religion came next in the social hierarchy, but their numbers decreased in the course of time. Finally, there was a small group of slaves (Ṣaqalibah)—captives from the northern peninsula and other European countries—and black captives or mercenaries.

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Ali, Syed Ameer (1899). A Short History of the Saracens. (2004 ed.). Kegan Paul.

Khan, Muhammad Mojlum (2008).  The Muslim 100: The Lives, Thoughts and Achievements of the Most Influential Muslims in History, Leicestershire, United Kingdom: Kube Publishing Ltd.

Lewis, David Levering (2009). God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215.  W. W. Norton. 

The Sword of Islam: A.D. 565 to 740: The Muslim Onslaught All But Destroys Christendom. Christian History Project. 2004.

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Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād (died c. 720) was a Berber general who led the Muslim conquest of Spain.

Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr, the Arab conqueror of Morocco, left his general Ṭāriq to govern Tangier in his place. Spain at this time was under Visigothic rule but was rent by civil war. The dispossessed sons of the recently deceased Visigothic king of Spain, Witiza, appealed to the Muslims for help in the civil war, and they quickly responded to this request in order to conquer Spain for themselves. In May 711 Ṭāriq landed on Gibraltar with an army of 7,000 men, mostly Berbers, Syrians, and Yemenis. Gibraltar henceforth became known as Jabal Ṭāriq (Mount Tarik), from which the Anglicized form of the name is adapted.

Quick Facts
Also spelled:
Tarik Ibn Zeyad
Died:
c. 720

Ṭāriq soon advanced to the Spanish mainland itself, gaining valuable support from Spanish Jews who had been persecuted by the Visigoths and from Christian supporters of Witiza’s sons. In July 711 he defeated the forces of the Visigothic usurper king Roderick at an undetermined location. He then immediately marched upon Toledo, the capital of Spain, and occupied that city against little resistance. He also conquered Córdoba. Mūsā himself arrived in Spain with a force of more than 18,000 in 712, and together the two generals occupied more than two-thirds of the Iberian Peninsula in the next few years. In 714 Mūsā and Ṭāriq were summoned by the caliph back to Damascus, where they were both accused of misappropriation of funds and died in obscurity.

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Musa ibn Nusayr
Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya
In office
703–715
MonarchsAbd al-Malik
Al-Walid I
Preceded byHassan ibn al-Nu'man
Succeeded byMuhammad ibn Yazid
Personal details
Bornc. 640
Hebron, Rashidun Caliphate
Died716
Umayyad Caliphate
RelationsAbd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn Musa ibn Nusayr (grandson)
Children
ParentNusayr
Military service
AllegianceUmayyad Caliphate
Battles/wars

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Musa ibn Nusayr (Arabic: موسى بن نصير Mūsá bin Nuṣayr; c. 640 – c. 716) was a general and governor who served under the Umayyad caliphs Abd al-Malik and Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim province of Ifriqiya, and directed the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb as well as the Visigothic Kingdom that controlled the Iberian Peninsula and part of what is now southern France (Septimania).

Background

Various suggestions have been made as to his ancestry. Some say his father belonged to the Lakhmid clan of semi-nomads who lived east of the Euphrates and were allies of the Sassanians,[1] while others claim he belonged to the Banu Bakr confederation.[2] One account stated that Musa's father was taken captive after the fall of the Mesopotamian city of Ayn al-Tamr (633). According to this account, he was an Arab Christian who was one of a number being held hostage there. However, al-Baladhuri, relating the same events,[3] states he was an Arab of the Balī tribe, from Jabal al-Jalīl in Palestine.[4] Another source states he was of Ajam Origin (non arab).[5] Musa Ibn Nusayr Al-Lakhmi hailed from Palestine The Palestine Issue: Historical Background. p. 25 – via Google Books.

As a slave, Musa's father entered the service of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (governor of Egypt and son of the caliph Marwan I) who gave him his freedom.[6] He returned to Syria where Musa was born at a place called Kafarmara or Kafarmathra.[7] The date of his birth has been given as 640.[8]

Musa was made co-governor of Iraq by the caliph Abd al-Malik, together with the caliph's brother Bishr ibn Marwan. There was some quarrel over missing tax money, and Musa was given the choice: pay a huge fine, or pay with his head. His father's patron, Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, had a high opinion of Musa, and paid the ransom;[9] he was later responsible for appointing Musa to be governor of Ifriqiya.

Islamic conquest of Maghreb

Main article: Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

Hasan ibn al-Nu'man was sent to continue the Islamic conquest in North Africa all the way to Morocco. He was relieved of his command for allowing continuing Byzantine attacks. Musa bin Nusayr was then sent to renew the attacks against the Berbers. But he did not impose Islam by force, rather, he respected Berber traditions and used diplomacy in subjugating them. This proved highly successful, as many Berbers converted to Islam and even entered his army as soldiers and officers,[10][citation needed] possibly including Tariq bin Ziyad[11] who would lead the later Islamic expedition in Iberia.

Governor

In 698, Musa was made the governor of Ifriqiya and was responsible for completing the conquest of North Africa and of the Balearic Islands and Sardinia. He was the first governor of Ifriqiya not to be subordinate to the governor of Egypt. He was the first Muslim general to take Tangiers and occupy it;[12] his troops also conquered the Sous, effectively taking control of all of the northern half of Morocco. He also had to deal with constant attacks from the Byzantine navy and he built a navy that would go on to conquer the islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca.[citation needed]

Conquest of Al-Andalus

See also: Umayyad conquest of Hispania

(Note: Most of what follows in this section is to be found first in Ibn Abd al-Hakam, then repeated by others, e.g. the Akhbār majmūʿa, with more detail but little real variation.)

Background

Muslim and Christian sources quote that while Musa bin Nusayr was eager to cross the Straits of Gibraltar to Hispania, he determined to do so only when a Visigoth nobleman, Julian, Count of Ceuta, had encouraged him to invade Iberia, telling him of the people's sufferings and the injustice of their king, Roderic, while giving him cause for conquest by telling him of the riches that would be found, and of the many palaces, gardens and beauties of Hispania. Legend tells that Julian wished for the fall of the Visigothic kingdom because his daughter, Florinda la Cava, had been raped by Roderic.[13][14]

Invasion

Map Conquest of Iberian Peninsula
Jebel Musa (Mountain of Musa) named after Musa bin Nusayr

After ordering a successful reconnaissance raid with 400 soldiers on the Spanish coast at Tarifa where the raiding force returned with a booty captured without any reported resistance, Musa decided to launch a larger invasion force, ordering his lieutenant Tariq bin Ziyad to cross the strait with approximately 7,000 Berbers and Arabs, and landed at Gibraltar (from Jebel Tariq, meaning Tariq's mountain in Arabic).[15] The expedition's purpose must have been to conduct further raids and explore the territory. Tariq's army contained some guides supplied by Julian. Three weeks after his landing, the Muslims were faced with a superior Visigoth royal army of 100,000 troops under Roderic.[16] The Muslims won the Battle of Guadalete, and the entire Visigoth nobility was all but exterminated at the battle. The Muslims then marched towards Córdoba, bypassing several strong fortifications. The well-defended city fell, and Tariq established a garrison there consisting mainly of the city's Jews who welcomed the invaders, having been subjected to conversion from the Visigoths for centuries. Tariq then continued on his way to Toledo.

Musa, learning of Tariq's successes, landed in Iberia with an army of 18,000 Arabs and Berbers. He planned to rendezvous with Tariq at Toledo, but first proceeded to take Seville, which Tariq had bypassed, and where Musa met stiff resistance, and succeeded after three months of siege. He then campaigned in the province of Lusitania, eliminating the remaining Gothic resistance there. His last destination before meeting Tariq was to subdue Mérida, capital of Lusitania. After five months of siege and inconclusive fighting, a group of Ceutans pretended to be Christian reinforcements and managed to convince the guards into opening the gates. Once inside, the "reinforcements", nearly 700, overwhelmed the guards and managed to keep the gates open for the Muslims to enter the city and capture it.

After Mérida, Musa divided his forces, taking the majority with him to meet Tariq at Toledo where he would remain for winter. The remainder of his forces were led by his son 'Abd al-Aziz, who would return to Seville to deal with an uprising. 'Abd al-Aziz made short work of the rebellion. He then conducted several campaigns on the return journey in the territories of Lusitania. Coimbra and Santarém were captured in the spring of 714. 'Abd al-Aziz then campaigned in Murcia. The Duke of Murcia, Theodemir, or Tudmir as he was called by the Muslims, surrendered to 'Abd al-Aziz after several hard-fought engagements in April 713. The terms imposed on Theodemir declared that the duke would keep the citadel of Orihuela and several other settlements, including Alicante and Lorca on the Mediterranean, that his followers will not be killed, taken prisoner, forced into Islam, and that their churches will not be burned. It also demanded that Theodemir not encourage or support others to resist the Muslims, and that he and every citizen of his dominion pay an annual tax in money and other goods.

Musa finally met up with Tariq where there was an argument over the latter's booty, which reportedly included a gold table covered with gems and other precious stones that had reputedly once belonged to Solomon.[17] Meanwhile, Musa's messenger, Mughith al-Rumi (the Roman) who had been sent to Caliph al-Walid I to inform him of the situation in Hispania, had returned. The Caliph requested Musa to withdraw and to report in person to Damascus. Musa chose to ignore this order temporarily, knowing that if he did not continue his advance, Visigoth resistance may increase and turn the tables against the Muslims. Having done so, he continued with Tariq to the north; Musa heading for Zaragoza, to which he lay siege, while Tariq continued to the provinces of León and Castile, capturing the towns of León and Astorga. Musa continued after taking Zaragoza to the north, taking Oviedo and reaching as far as the Bay of Biscay. The Islamic conquest of Iberia now complete, Musa proceeded to place governors and prefects throughout the newly conquered Al-Andalus, before returning to Damascus with most of the booty captured from the Jihad.

Return to Damascus

Both conquerors of Spain were therefore summoned by the caliph to Damascus. Tariq arrived first, according to some accounts. But then the caliph was taken ill. So the caliph's brother, Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik became temporarily in charge, and asked Musa, who was arriving with a cavalcade of soldiers and spoils, to delay his grand entry into the city. He most certainly intended to claim the glories brought from the conquest for himself. But Musa dismissed this request, triumphantly entered Damascus anyway, and brought the booty before the ailing Al-Walid I, which brought Musa and Tariq unprecedented popularity amongst the people of Damascus. Al-Walid I then died a few days later and was succeeded by his brother Sulayman, who demanded that Musa deliver up all his spoils. When Musa complained, Sulayman stripped him of his rank and confiscated all the booty, including the table which had reputedly once belonged to Solomon.

One of Musa's sons, Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa, married Egilona who was wife of Roderic. She asked 'Abd al-Aziz why his guests did not bow to him as they used to do in the presence of his father. It was reported that he began to force guests to bow to him. It was rumoured that he had secretly become a Christian, and a group of Arabs assassinated him, cut off his head and sent it to the caliph. Sulayman had Musa in his audience when the head arrived, and seeing whose it was, callously asked Musa if he recognized it. Musa maintained his dignity, saying he recognized it as belonging to someone who had always practiced the faith fervently, and cursed the men who had killed him.[18] Another son, Abd Allah, who had acted as governor of Ifriqiya after Musa, was executed on the orders of the caliph on suspicion of having had killed the man who had replaced him.[19]

Death

Musa died naturally while on the Hajj pilgrimage with Sulayman in about the year 715–716. Because of his disgrace, and the misfortunes of his sons, there was a tendency among medieval historians of the Maghreb to attribute his deeds (the conquest of Tangiers and the Sous) to Uqba ibn Nafi.[20]

The Moroccan peak Jebel Musa is named for Musa bin Nusayr according to the 14th-century Berber Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta.[21]

Al-Bakri in his al-Maslik wa al-Mamalik, mentions that Musa Ibn Nusayr was buried in Zaragoza.[22]

In legend

Less than 200 years after his death, Musa ibn Nusayr became the subject of fantastic legends. These tales were first recorded in the late 9th or early 10th century by ibn al-Faqih, who wrote that Musa was ordered by the caliph to investigate reports of a strange city called al-Baht.[23] Musa marched from Qayrawan to the deserts of Spain and came upon a city that was surrounded by walls with no entrance. Those who attempted to look over the wall became entranced and jumped, laughing deliriously. Musa then proceeded to a nearby lake, which contained copper jars. When opened, a genie emerged from each one.

A more extensive version of the same legend is recorded in "The City of Brass," a tale in One Thousand and One Nights, in which Musa encounters many other marvels, such as a palace filled with jewels, whose only human occupant was the embalmed corpse of a beautiful woman, guarded by two robot warriors.[24]

The 17th-century historian Ibn Abi Dinar used Musa's decline in fortune as an object lesson in the vagaries of human existence, with some exaggerations: "Musa, who had conquered half the inhabited world, who had acquired so many riches, died in poverty, begging alms from passers-by, after having been abandoned by the last of his servants. Overcome by shame and misery, he wished for death, and God gave it to him. I only mention the details of Musa's death to give my contemporaries, who are poorly read, a striking example of the vicissitudes of human life."[25]

Probably the most extensive work to be inspired by the life of Musa is a section of the anonymous Kitāb al-imāma w'as-siyāsa, which contains a lengthy description of his deeds accompanied by many supposed speeches and sayings. Unlike many other authors, such as Ibn Abd al-Hakam, the work is entirely favourable to Musa.[26]

See also

Notes

  1.  Editor's note, p. 41 of the Spanish translation of Al-Bakri.
  2.  These conflicting accounts are mentioned by al-Baladhuri (p. 362 of English translation), Al-Bakri (p. 41 of Spanish translation).
  3.  English translation, pp. 396–397.
  4.  Hitti, on p. 397 of his translation of al-Baladhuri, states this is Mt. Galilee, presumably intending the reader to infer the place of that name near Jerusalem. But according to Yaqut, Kitāb mu'jam al-buldān, the name applies to mountains which extend up the coast of Syria to Homs and across to Damascus.
  5.  Clarke, N. (2023). Caliphs and conquerors: Images of the Marwanids and their agents in narratives of the conquest of Iberia. In A. George & A. Marsham (Eds.), Power, patronage, and memory in early Islam: Perspectives on Umayyad elites. Oxford University Press. Page 301.
  6.  al-Baladhuri, p. 397 of English translation; the same in other sources, although Al-Bakri (p. 41 of Spanish translation) says that some say he was liberated by Uthman.
  7.  al-Baladhuri, p. 397 of English translation, and editor's note.
  8.  Al-Bakri, p. 42 of Spanish translation.
  9.  Ibn Abd al-Hakam, p. 329 of the English translation, p. 203 of Torrey's Arabic text.
  10.  "Tarikhe". Tarikhe. Retrieved 2025-07-27. [dead link]
  11.  It is not completely certain that Tariq was a Berber. See the article on Tariq bin Ziyad for a list of the several possibilities.
  12.  al-Baladhuri, p. 362 of English translation.
  13.  Lewis, David Levering (12 January 2009). God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215. W. W. Norton. pp. 119–120. ISBN 978-0-393-06790-3.
  14.  The Sword of Islam: A.D. 565 to 740 : the Muslim Onslaught All But Destroys Christendom. Christian History Project. 2004. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-9689873-4-6.
  15.  Rogers, Clifford J. (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6. reconnaissance raid for the governor of the Arab province of Ifriqiyah, Musa ibn Nusayr . The success of this raid prompted Musa to order his lieutenant Tariq ibn Ziyad to launch an attack
  16.  Syed Ameer Ali (1899). A Short History of the Saracens (2004 ed.). Kegan Paul. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7103-0918-1.
  17.  See the article on Tariq bin Ziyad for more details of the supposed disagreements, accounts of which vary considerably.
  18.  Ibn Abd al-Hakam, pp. 212–213 of Arabic text, pp. 51–52 of Spanish translation.
  19.  Ibn Abd al-Hakam, pp. 213–214 of Arabic text, pp. 55–56 of Spanish translation.
  20.  See, for example, article by Ahmed Benabbès cited below which analyzes this tendency. Brunschvig, cited below, has stated that medieval historians could be divided into those for or against Musa.
  21.  Norris, H.T. (1959), "Ibn Battutah's Andalusian Journey", The Geographical Journal.
  22.  al-Bakri (c. 1048). المسالك والممالك (al-Masalik wa al-Mamlik).
  23.  Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadānī, pp. 108–112 of French translation.
  24.  The tale of "The City of Brass", in Burton's edition vol. 6, pp. 86–121.
  25.  Ibn Abi Dinar, pp. 60–61 of French translation.
  26.  It has been suggested that this life of Musa originated with an Egyptian descendant of his son Marwan, in the 2nd half of the 9th century: M. Makki, "Egipto y los orígenes de la historiografía árabe-española", Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos en Madrid, v. 5, 157–248 (1957).

References

  • Al-Bakri, Kitāb al-masālik w'al-mamālik. Spanish translation of extracts relating to Spain, E. Vidal Beltran, Geografia de España, Textos Medievales vol. 53, Zaragoza, 1982.
  • al-Baladhuri, Kitab Futuh al-Buldan, translated by Phillip Hitti in The Origins of the Islamic State (1916, 1924).
  • Anon., Akhbār majmūa fī fath al-andalūs wa dhikr ūmarā'ihā. Arabic text edited with Spanish translation: E. Lafuente y Alcantara, Ajbar Machmua, Coleccion de Obras Arabigas de Historia y Geografia, vol. 1, Madrid, 1867.
  • Ibn Abd al-Hakam, Kitab Futuh Misr wa'l Maghrib wa'l Andalus. English translation by Torrey of portion of this 9th century work covering the period: "The Mohammedan conquest of Egypt and North Africa in the Years 643-705 A.D., translated from the Original Arabic of Ibn 'Abd-el Hakem'", Biblical and Semitic Studies vol. 1 (1901), 279-330 (covers North Africa only, not Spain). Critical Arabic edition of the whole work published by Torrey, Yale University Press, 1932. Spanish translation by Eliseo Vidal Beltran of the North African and Spanish parts of Torrey's Arabic text: "Conquista de Africa del Norte y de Espana", Textos Medievales #17, Valencia, 1966. An online copy of an older and less reliable (19th-century) English translation of the portion dealing only with Spain is at: Medieval Sourcebook: The Islamic conquest of Spain
  • A. Benabbès: "Les premiers raids arabes en Numidie Byzantine: questions toponymiques." In Identités et Cultures dans l'Algérie Antique, University of Rouen, 2005 (ISBN 2-87775-391-3)
  • Muhammad ibn Abi Dinar al-Qayrawānī, Al-Mu’nis fi Akhbar Ifriqiya wa Tunis (1681). French translation by E. Pellisier & E. Rémusat, Histoire de l'Afrique, Paris, 1845.
  • Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadānī, Kitāb al-buldān. French translation by H. Massé: Abrégé du Livre des Pays, Damascus, 1973.
  • Pascual de Gayangos y Arce, The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain. vol. 1. 1840. English translation of al-Maqqari and other authors.
  • Anon., Kitāb al-imāma w'as-siyāsa (9th-10th century?). English translation: Appendix E of Gayangos' The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain.
  • Robert Brunschvig, "Ibn 'Abdalh'akam et la conquête de l'Afrique du Nord par les Arabes." Annales de l'Institut d'Etudes Orientales, v. 6 (1942–44) 108-155. Reprinted in Al-Andalus, 40 (1975), pp. 129–179.
  • M.J. Viguera Molina, "The Muslim settlement of Spania/al-Andalus", p. 13-38 in The Foundation of al-Andalus. Part 1: History and Society (ed. M. Martin), Ashgate, UK, 1998 (vol. 46 of The Foundation of the Classical Islamic World series). Reviews all Arabic sources.

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Mūsā ibn Nuṣayr | Muslim leader | Britannica

Musa ibn Nusayr - Wikipedia

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Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād
طارق بن زياد
A depiction of Tariq in the Semblanzas de reyes, c. 1300s
Bornc. 670
North Africa
Diedc. 720
Damascus, Syria
AllegianceUmayyad Caliphate
Conflicts
Conquest of Hispania
Other work

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Tariq ibn Ziyad (Arabic: طارق بن زياد Ṭāriq ibn Ziyād; c. 670 – c. 720), also known simply as Tarik in English, was an Umayyad commander who initiated the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain and Portugal) against the Visigothic Kingdom in 711–718 AD. He led an army and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from the North African coast, consolidating his troops at what is today known as the Rock of Gibraltar. The name "Gibraltar" is the Spanish derivation of the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq (جبل طارق), meaning 'mountain of Tariq', which is named after him.

Origins

Medieval Arabic historians give contradictory accounts of Ṭāriq's origins and ethnicity. Some conclusions about his personality and the circumstances of his entry into al-Andalus are surrounded by uncertainty.[1] The vast majority of modern sources state that Ṭāriq was a Berber mawla of Musa ibn Nusayr, the Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya.[1][2][3][4]

According to Ibn Khaldun, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was from a Berber tribe in what is now Algeria.[5] Heinrich Barth mentions that Tariq Ibn Ziyad was a Berber from the tribe of the Ulhassa,[6] a tribe native to the Tafna[7] that currently inhabits the Béni Saf region in Algeria.[8] According to David Nicolle, Tariq Ibn Ziyad is first mentioned in historical records as the governor of Tangier.[5] Additionally, as per David Nicolle, it is traditionally believed that he was born in Wadi Tafna (a region in present-day Tlemcen).[5][9] He had also lived there with his wife prior to his governance of Tangier.[10]

History

The Moorish Castle's Tower of Homage, symbol of the Muslim rule in Gibraltar

According to Ibn Abd al-Hakam (803–871), Musa ibn Nusayr appointed Ṭāriq governor of Tangier after its conquest in 710–711,[11] but an unconquered Visigothic outpost remained nearby at Ceuta, a stronghold commanded by a nobleman named Julian, Count of Ceuta.

After Roderic came to power in Spain, Julian had, as was the custom, sent his daughter, Florinda la Cava, to the court of the Visigothic king for education. It is said that Roderic raped her, and that Julian was so incensed he resolved to have the Muslims bring down the Visigothic Kingdom. Accordingly, he entered into a treaty with Ṭāriq (Mūsā having returned to Qayrawan) to secretly convoy the Muslim army across the Straits of Gibraltar, as he owned a number of merchant ships and had his own forts on the Spanish mainland.[12]

On or about April 26, 711, the army of Ṭāriq Bin Ziyad, composed of recent Berber converts to Islam, was landed on the Iberian peninsula (in what is now Spain) by Julian.[a] They debarked at the foothills of a mountain which was henceforth named after him, Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq).[13]

Ṭāriq's army contained about 7,000 soldiers, composed largely of Berber stock but also Arab troops.[14] Roderic, to meet the threat of the Umayyads, assembled an army said to number 100,000,[15] though the real number may well have been much lower.[16] Most of the army was commanded by, and loyal to, the sons of Wittiza, whom Roderic had brutally deposed.[17] Ṭāriq won a decisive victory when Roderic was defeated and killed on July 19 at the Battle of Guadalete.[1][18]

Map Conquest of Iberian Peninsula.

Ṭāriq Bin Ziyad split his army into four divisions, which went on to capture Córdoba under Mughith al-Rumi, Granada, and other places, while he remained at the head of the division which captured Toledo. Afterwards, he continued advancing towards the north, reaching Guadalajara and Astorga.[1] Ṭāriq was de facto governor of Hispania until the arrival of Mūsā a year later. Ṭāriq's success led Musa to assemble 12,000 (mostly Arab) troops to plan a second invasion. Within a few years, Ṭāriq and Musa had captured two-thirds of the Iberian peninsula from the Visigoths.[19][20]

Both Ṭāriq and Musa were simultaneously ordered back to Damascus by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I in 714, where they spent the rest of their lives.[18] The son of Musa, Abd al-Aziz, who took command of the troops of al-Andalus, was assassinated in 716.[2] In the many Arabic histories written about the conquest of southern Spain, there is a definite division of opinion regarding the relationship between Ṭāriq and Musa bin Nusayr. Some relate episodes of anger and envy on the part of Mūsā that his freedman had conquered an entire country. Others do not mention, or play down, any such bad blood. On the other hand, another early historian, al-Baladhuri, writing in the 9th century, merely states that Mūsā wrote Ṭāriq a "severe letter" and that the two were later reconciled.[21]

Speech

Main article: Khutba of Tariq Ibn Ziyad

A 13th century historian Ibn Khallikan in his 1274 work Wafayāt al-ʾAʿyān [Deaths of Eminent Men][22]: 328 [23]: 54  and later a 16th-century historian Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, in his Nafh at-Tib  [ar],[b] attribute a long khuṭba speech to Ṭāriq, which he is supposed to have given to his troops before the Battle of Guadalete.[24][25][26]

Legends and cultural references

  • Ṭāriq appears in one story of the One Thousand and One Nights (nights 272–273). He is referenced as having killed the king of the city of Labtayt (probably Toledo), in accordance to a prophesy.[27]

Notes

  1.  There is a legend that Ṭāriq ordered that the ships he arrived in be burnt, to prevent any cowardice. This is first mentioned over 400 years later by the geographer al-Idrisi, fasc. 5 p. 540 of Arabic text (Arabic: فٱمر بإحراق المراكب), vol. 2 p. 18 of French translation. Apart from a mention in the slightly later Kitāb al-iktifa fī akhbār al-khulafā (English translation in Appendix D of Gayangos, The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain), this legend was not sustained by other authors.
  2.  Nafḥ al-ṭīb min ghuṣn al-Andalus al-raṭīb wa-dhikr waziriha Lisān al-Dīn ibn al-Khaṭīb (نفح الطيب من غصن الأندلس الرطيب وذكر وزيرها لسان الدين بن الخطيب 'The Breath of Perfume from the Dew-Laden Branch of al-Andalus and Mentions of its Vizier Lisan ad-Din Ibn al-Khatib')

References

  1.  Molina 2000, p. 242.
  2.  Abun-Nasr 1993, p. 71.
  3.  Kennedy 1996, p. 6.
  4.  Nicolle 2009, p. 64.
  5.  David Nicolle (2014). The Great Islamic Conquests AD 632–750. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1-4728-1034-2.
  6.  Barth, Heinrich (1857). Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855. Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts.
  7.  Sidi Yakhlef, Adel. "Approche Anthropo-biologique de la consanguinité sur les paramètres de fitness et de morbidité dans la population de Oulhaça dans l’Ouest Algérien." PhD diss., 2012.
  8.  Khelifa, Abderrahmane. "Oulhassa (Tribu)." Encyclopédie berbère 36 (2013): 5975–5977.
  9.  الأدب العربي لغير الناطقين بالعربية. الجزء الأول‬‎. Al Manhal, 2014.
  10.  Shākir, Maḥmūd. موسوعة اعلام وقادة الفتح الاسلامي‬‎. ‫دار أسامة للنشر والتوزيع‬‎, 2002.
  11.  Alternatively, he was left as governor when Mūsā's son Marwan returned to Qayrawan. Both explanations are given by Ibn Abd al-Hakam, p. 41 of Spanish translation, p. 204 of Arabic text.
  12.  Menon, Ajay (2021-04-17). "10 Interesting Facts About The Straits Of Gibraltar". Marine Insight. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  13.  Molina 2000, p. 243.
  14.  Akhbār majmūa, p. 21 of Spanish translation, p. 6 of Arabic text.
  15.  Akhbār majmūa p. 8 of Arabic text, p. 22 of Spanish translation.
  16.  Collins, Roger (2004). Visigothic Spain 409–711. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons Ltd. p. 141. ISBN 978-1405149662.
  17.  According to some sources, e.g., al-Maqqari p. 269 of the English translation, Wittiza's sons by prior arrangement with Ṭāriq deserted at a critical phase of the battle. Roger Collins takes an oblique reference in the Mozarab Chronicle par. 52 to mean the same thing.
  18.  Reilly 2009, p. 52.
  19.  Rogers, Clifford J. (2010). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533403-6.
  20.  Esposito, John L. (2000). The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-19-988041-6.
  21.  p. 365 of Hitti's English translation.
  22.  Qutbuddin, Tahera (2019-01-01). "7. The Battle Oration". Arabic Oration: Art and Function. BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004395800_009. ISBN 978-90-04-39580-0.
  23.  Soto, Omayra Herrero (2010). "La arenga de Tariq B. Ziyad: Un ejemplo de creación retórica en la historiografía árabe [The battle Exhortation of Tariq b. Ziyad: An example of rhetoric creation in Arabic Historiography]". Talia Dixit. Revista Interdisciplinar de Retórica e Historiografía (in Spanish) (11): 45–72. doi:10.17398/1886-9440.11.45. hdl:10662/5018. ISSN 1886-9440.
  24.  Falk, Avner (2010). Franks and Saracens: Reality and Fantasy in the Crusades. p. 47.
  25.  McIntire, E. Burns, Suzanne, William (2009). Speeches in World History. Infobase. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-4381-2680-7.
  26.  Charles Francis Horne (1917). The Sacred Books and Early Literature of the East: With Historical Surveys of the Chief Writings of Each Nation... Vol. VI: Medieval Arabia. Parke, Austin, and Lipscomb. pp. 241–242.
  27.  "Burton Nights: The city of Labtayt". Tales from the 1001 Nights. Retrieved 2024-09-03.

Sources

Primary sources

  • Pascual de Gayangos y Arce, The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain. vol. 1. 1840. English translation of al-Maqqari.
  • al-Baladhuri, Kitab Futuh al-Buldan, English translation by Phillip Hitti in The Origins of, the Islamic State (1916, 1924).
  • Anon., Akhbār majmūa fī fath al-andalūs wa dhikr ūmarā'ihā. Arabic text edited with Spanish translation: E. Lafuente y Alcantara, Ajbar Machmua, Coleccion de Obras Arabigas de Historia y Geografia, vol. 1, Madrid, 1867.
  • Anon., Mozarab Chronicle.
  • Ibn Abd al-Hakam, Kitab Futuh Misr wa'l Maghrib wa'l Andalus. Critical Arabic edition of the whole work published by Torrey, Yale University Press, 1932. Spanish translation by Eliseo Vidal Beltran of the North African and Spanish parts of Torrey's Arabic text: "Conquista de Africa del Norte y de Espana", Textos Medievales #17, Valencia, 1966. This is to be preferred to the obsolete 19th-century English translation at: Medieval Sourcebook: The Islamic conquest of Spain
  • Enrique Gozalbes Cravioto, "Tarif, el conquistador de Tarifa", Aljaranda, no. 30 (1998) (not paginated).
  • Muhammad al-Idrisi, Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq (1154). Critical edition of the Arabic text: Opus geographicum: sive "Liber ad eorum delectationem qui terras peragrare studeant." (ed. Bombaci, A. et al., 9 Fascicles, 1970–1978). Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples. French translation: Jaubert, Pierre Amédée (1836–1840). Géographie d'Édrisi traduite de l'arabe en français d'après deux manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du roi et accompagnée de notes (2 Vols). Paris: L'imprimerie Royale..
  • Ibn Taghribirdi, Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira. Partial French translation by E. Fagnan, "En-Nodjoum ez-Zâhîra. Extraits relatifs au Maghreb." Recueil des Notices et Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Département de Constantine, v. 40, 1907, 269–382.
  • Ibn Khallikan, Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-anbāʾ abnāʾ az-zamān. English translation by M. De Slane, Ibn Khallikan's Biographical dictionary, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, 1843.
  • Ibn Idhari, Kitāb al-bayān al-mughrib fī ākhbār mulūk al-andalus wa'l-maghrib. Arabic text ed. G.S. Colin & E. Lévi-Provençal, Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord et de l'Espagne intitulée Kitāb al-Bayān al-Mughrib, 1948.

Secondary sources

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