and he spent vast sums, whereupon Alfonso (1) marched out to meet him. They clashed, and it was a mighty victory: Alfonso escaped with only a small remnant of his forces, while several leading Muslim commanders were martyred. Yaʿqūb seized a number of fortresses and invested Toledo, then withdrew. He later campaigned again, pressing forward until he reached territory no king had ever entered. Alfonso thereupon sued for peace, and a ten-year truce was concluded. Two years later the sultan returned to Marrakesh and openly announced his intention of advancing on Egypt.

For months on end he would personally lead the congregational prayer. One day he was detained; when he finally came out and found the worshippers still waiting for him, he reproached them and said, “The Companions once put forward ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf when the Prophet was delayed for a valid excuse.” He then appointed an imam to lead on his behalf (2).

He also sat to administer justice. On one occasion two men brought before him a dispute over half a dirham (3). He delivered judgment, disciplined them, and said, “Are there not judges in this town?”

He would listen to the rulings of Ibn Baqī from behind a curtain, and the market inspectors would enter to report the affairs of the bazaars.

On the last campaign (4) he donated forty thousand dinars in charity.

Each year he gathered the orphans and ordered that every child receive a dinar, a garment, a loaf of bread, and a pomegranate.

He built a maristan—a public hospital—the like of which, I think (5), has never been seen: he planted every kind of tree in its grounds, beautified it, brought running water through it, and allocated thirty dinars a day for medicines, personally visiting the patients there every Friday.