and the two men just mentioned were martyred.

Ibn Rudhmir erected tombs over them, after which the town was surrendered to him. In the same period he captured Duruqa, Qalʿat Ayyūb, Tarasūna, and more than 200 fortified sites; only three towns in all remained beyond his reach. Of the lands still held by the Banū Hūd there survived Lārida (1), Ifrāgha, Ṭurṭūsha, and other places—a district that took ten days to cross, which the accursed man never managed to subdue. At Lārida the gallant champion Abū Muḥammad (2) took command, and at Ifrāgha the devout warrior Muḥammad Mardanish al-Judhamī (3), grandfather of Emir Muḥammad ibn Saʿd, held firm.

19 – Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hūd, al-Mustanṣir bi-Allah al-Andalusī

Known by the honorific al-Mustanṣir bi-Allah al-Andalusī, he came from a household of royalty, pomp, and vast wealth, and a portion of al-Andalus was in his hands. To shore up his rule he sought the aid of the Franks. Al-Yasaʿ ibn Ḥazm relates:

“A truce was concluded between al-Mustanṣir ibn Hūd and Sulayṭīn (4), King of the Romans and grandson of Alfonso, for a term of 20 years. Under its terms al-Mustanṣir would cede Rūṭa to the Franks; in return they would hand over to him certain fortresses and supply him with 50,000 Romans, with whom he intended to march into Muslim lands and seize power. But Allah placed his destruction within his own scheming.

“We used to read in the reports transmitted from the early generations that the ruin of al-Andalus would come at the hands of the Banū Hūd.”