the fortress, and he came down without showing the least sign of resistance. He was a righteous man, yet Ibn Hūd executed him in cold blood. The people of Cordoba were outraged; their spirits rebelled, and the slaying of a lion of Allah weighed heavily upon them. They therefore advanced on the palace, whereupon Ibn Hūd fled the city. Ibn Ḥamdīn then made for Cordoba, the inhabitants admitted him, turmoil swelled, tribulation tightened its grip on al-Andalus, and the cauldrons of civil strife boiled over.

As for Abū Muḥammad Ibn ʿIyāḍ, he was ruling the kingdom of Lārida. He set out with five hundred cavalrymen, intent on rectifying the affairs of the ummah. The people of Murcia and Valencia approached him, wishing to place him over them, but he refused. Instead, the people of Valencia pledged allegiance—on his behalf—to the Abbasid caliph ʿAbd Allah. Ibn ʿIyāḍ and Ibn Hūd then agreed that the title of the caliphate would belong to the Abbasid Commander of the Faithful, that oversight of the armies and revenues would fall to Ibn ʿIyāḍ, and that the sultanate would remain with Ibn Hūd.

Al-Yasaʿ relates: I drafted an accord between them, whose wording ran as follows:

“A document of agreement, order, and concord for uniting the word of Islam, by which the believers rejoice, concluded between the prince al-Mustanṣir bi-Allah Aḥmad and the aided warrior Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿIyāḍ—may Allah open before them the gates of success…,” until it says:

“I, living in the Iberian Peninsula among foreigners backed by the Romans, ask: why do you not resolve to broadcast justice and pursue it? Our envoy Ibn al-Yasaʿ has set out toward you; whatever agreements he contracts and whatever of your affairs he endorses—we have ratified.”

He continues: When I reached the city and read out the letter, they rejoiced… until he said:

The Romans then raided the districts around Xàtiva. ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿIyāḍ sent me to al-Mustanṣir with the message: “I am making full preparations to confront the enemy; do not come out.”

When I delivered this message, he said to me, “You only wish to spoil the stratagem of the covenant that exists between me and the Romans. Once I go out and meet with their kings, they will return what they have taken.”

I informed Ibn ʿIyāḍ of this, and he said to me, “Does the man imagine that the Romans will keep faith with him? He will adopt my counsel when there is no …”