University of Virginia Library

15. CHAPTER XV.

While these events were happening in Syria,
the youthful Abdalasis, the son of Muza,
remained as emir or governor of Spain. He
was of a generous and benignant disposition,
but he was open and confiding, and easily led
away by the opinions of those he loved. Fortunately
his father had left with him, as a bosom
counsellor, the discreet Ayub, the nephew of
Muza; aided by his advice, he for some time
administered the public affairs prudently and
prosperously.

Not long after the departure of his father, he
received a letter from him, written while on his
journey to Syria; it was to the following purport:

“Beloved son; honour of thy lineage; Allah
guard thee from all harm and peril! Listen
to the words of thy father. Avoid all treachery
though it should promise great advantage, and

trust not in him who counsels it, even though
he should be a brother. The company of traitors
put far from thee; for how canst thou be
certain that he who has proved false to others
will prove true to thee? Beware, O my son, of
the seductions of love. It is an idle passion
which enfeebles the heart and blinds the judgment;
it renders the mighty weak, and makes
slaves of princes. If thou shouldst discover
any foible of a vicious kind springing up in thy
nature, pluck it forth, whatever pang it cost
thee. Every error, while new, may easily be
weeded out, but if suffered to take root it flourishes
and bears seed, and produces fruit an hundred
fold. Follow these counsels, O son of my
affections, and thou shalt live secure.”

Abdalasis meditated upon this letter, for some
part of it seemed to contain a mystery which
he could not comprehend. He called to him his
cousin and counsellor, the discreet Ayub. “What
means my father,” said he, “in cautioning me
against treachery and treason? Does he think
my nature so base that it could descend to
such means?”

Ayub read the letter attentively. “Thy father,”
said he, “would put thee on thy guard
against the traitors Julian and Oppas, and
those of their party who surround thee. What
love canst thou expect from men who have

been unnatural to their kindred, and what
loyalty from wretches who have betrayed
their country?”

Abdalasis was satisfied with the interpretation,
and he acted accordingly. He had long
loathed all communion with these men, for
there is nothing which the open ingenuous
nature so much abhors as duplicity and treason.
Policy, too, no longer required their
agency; they had rendered their infamous
service, and had no longer a country to betray;
but they might turn and betray their
employers. Abdalasis, therefore, removed them
to a distance from his court, and placed them
in situations where they could do no harm, and
he warned his commanders from being in any
wise influenced by their counsels, or aided by
their arms.

He now confided entirely in his Arabian
troops, and in the moorish squadrons from Africa,
and with their aid he completed the conquest
of Lusitania to the ultimate parts of the
Algarbe, or west, even to the shores of the
great Ocean sea.[22] From hence he sent his
generals to overrun all those vast and rugged

sierras, which rise like ramparts along the ocean
borders of the peninsula; and they carried the
standard of Islam in triumph even to the mountains
of Biscay, collecting all manner of precious
spoil.

“It is not enough, O Abdalasis,” said Ayub,
“that we conquer and rule this country with
the sword; if we wish our dominion to be secure,
we must cultivate the arts of peace, and
study to secure the confidence and promote the
welfare of the people we have conquered.” Abdalasis
relished counsel which accorded so well
with his own beneficent nature. He endeavoured,
therefore, to allay the ferment and confusion
of the conquest; forbade, under rigorous punishment,
all wanton spoil or oppression, and
protected the native inhabitants in the enjoyment
and cultivation of their lands, and the
pursuit of all useful occupations. By the advice
of Ayub, also, he encouraged great numbers of
industrious Moors and Arabs to emigrate from
Africa, and gave them houses and lands; thus
introducing a peaceful mahometan population
into the conquered provinces.

The good effect of the counsels of Ayub
were soon apparent. Instead of a sudden but
transient influx of wealth, made by the ruin of
the land, which left the country desolate, a regular
and permanent revenue sprang up, produced

by reviving prosperity, and gathered
without violence. Abdalasis ordered it to be
faithfully collected, and deposited in coffers by
public officers appointed in each province for
the purpose; and the whole was sent by ten
deputies to Damascus to be laid at the feet of
the caliph; not as the spoils of a vanquished
country, but as the peaceful trophies of a wisely
administered government.

The common herd of warlike adventurers,
the mere men of the sword, who had thronged
to Spain for the purpose of ravage and rapine,
were disappointed at being thus checked in
their career, and at seeing the reign of terror
and violence drawing to a close. What manner
of leader is this, said they, who forbids us
to make spoil of the enemies of Islam, and to
enjoy the land we have wrested from the unbelievers?
The partisans of Julian, also, whispered
their calumnies. “Behold,” said they, “with
what kindness he treats the enemies of your
faith; all the christians who have borne arms
against you, and withstood your entrance into
the land, are favoured and protected; but it is
enough for a christian to have befriended the
cause of the moslems to be singled out by Abdalasis
for persecution, and to be driven with
scorn from his presence.”

These insinuations fermented the discontent

of the turbulent and rapacious among the moslems,
but all the friends of peace and order and
good government applauded the moderation of
the youthful emir.