25 – Ibn Ganiyah, Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī al-Barbarī

The amir and warrior in the path of God, Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn ʿAlī ibn Ganiyah (1) al-Barbarī, the brother of the amir Muḥammad (2).

The Amir of the Muslims, ʿAlī ibn Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn, dispatched the two brothers to al-Andalus, assigning them the governorship of a number of its cities (3). Yaḥyā was counted among the blessings of his age: he had mastered jurisprudence and the Sunnah, was devout and scrupulous, and so renowned for courage that people said, “He was worth five hundred cavalrymen.” Through him God rectified many affairs and repelled misfortunes.

He governed Valencia, then Córdoba, and led numerous expeditions, taking captives and spoils.

His greatest campaign was the assault on the city of Sālim. There he confronted a large army, routed them, besieged the city, and remained for seven days at the grave of al-Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿĀmir, after which he returned safe and victorious. He lived on until the very end of the Almoravid state, left no offspring, and his brother Muḥammad’s position became unstable; Muḥammad kept roaming al-Andalus while the Masmūdah movement was spreading.

Later Yaḥyā set out for Dāniyah (Denia), and from there crossed to the island of Mayūrqah (Majorca). He captured it together with the two islands around it—Manūrqah (Minorca) and Yābisah (Ibiza).

It is said that Ibn Tāshfīn had banished him there in a kind of guarded detention. Mayūrqah is a pleasant and fertile island, about thirty parasangs across, free of vermin and wild beasts,