King of Seville, Al-Mu’tamid ibn Ebaad, mourns his kingdom: Stranger’s grave nourished by departing dusk, truly you won with the remains of Ibn Ebaad

BEING different and isolated from others, and not paying attention to advice are aspects that are present in the genes of some Arab leaders. Hence, none of them had been able to preserve their state or avoid giving way to the advisors among their people to fulfill their duty.

Rather, these leaders resorted to entertainment and luxury. They built high walls between them and their people who brought them to power for managing the community’s affairs.

Any observer of the current Arab reality will not be surprised when he compares the past with the present. Just as the kingdoms of Andalusia collapsed one after the other, wear and tear is currently eating up some of those metropolises with the same rhythm that prevailed 800 years ago in the so-called “Paradise Lost”.

At that time the Arabs of Andalusia were plagued by luxurious and greedy leaders. They only cared about preserving their rule, even if it was at the expense of their people. Therefore, at the end of their reigns, they became like those afflicted by the plague. Everyone fled from them, and they found no one to support them.

Among them is the King of Seville AlMu’tamid ibn Ebaad, who blew up all the bridges of state power that he inherited from his father. Instead of gathering geniuses, advisors and dedicated leaders around him, he used opportunistic advisors who worked to plunder the state, and weaken the ruler by pushing him to seek help from abroad to repel the revolutions that erupted against him, because he failed to spend on his army and his people.

Due to his recklessness and isolation from his subjects, he concluded a secret agreement with the King of Castile Alfonso VI to protect him from opponents, and the kings of the surrounding Arab sects, in return for paying tribute to him, and allowing him to control the affairs of the country.

When Alfonso went hard on Seville, some advisers pointed out to Al-Mu’tamid to seek the help of the Almoravids who had a strong state in Morocco led by Yousef bin Tashfin who saw in Andalusia a lost paradise, and leaders who were not qualified to manage their countries. Therefore, he ordered one of his leaders Sirin to prepare an army and march to Seville. On the way, he captured some Arab Andalusian kingdoms.

The Almoravids were able to stop the aggressions of Franks on Seville, after the battle of Zalqa, where they defeated Alfonso, and began to interfere in the affairs of the state, until they managed to control even AlMu’tamid ibn Ebaad and his family.

However, the elite of the people were not happy with what was going on. The advisors themselves indicated to their king to ask Ibn Tashfin to withdraw his forces, which he did withdraw but with a warning that the danger of the Franks still existed.

He was also warned that the internal situation in his kingdom did not bode well for the possibility of re-establishing control for him, except that the advisors portrayed for Ibn Ebaad a different reality than what was actually on the ground.

They indicated to him to reject such advice, so the Almoravids had to attack his army, seize the kingdom, and take Al-Mu’tamid ibn Ebaad as a captive to Morocco, where he was imprisoned in the village of Aghmat.

Al-Mu’tamid ibn Ebaad spent the rest of his life in that village in distress and subjugation. Whenever someone asked Ibn Tashfin to ease the restrictions on his captive, he said, “I do not feel remorse for the torment I inflicted on this man, for he offended himself, his state, and his religion when he considered the rule to be a means for amusement and luxury. He tortured his people, neglected the state, did not listen to the advices of his people, and sought help from outsiders, hypocrites and liars.”

After several centuries, Almighty Allah blessed Morocco with a king who understands well the lessons of history. He is King Hassan II. He restored the tomb of AlMu’tamid ibn Ebaad, and inscribed on his tombstone his last poems, in which this Andalusian leader mourned himself when he said, “The stranger’s grave has been nourished by the departing dusk. Indeed, you have won the remains of ibn Ebaad.”

This is how this Andalusian king drew his way to that end when he was isolated from his people, and let his advisors control the affairs of the state, especially those who are not qualified to take charge of these affairs.

This approach is not unique. It is actually an old-new Arab path. It is enough for an observer to look at some Arab countries at the present time to know the misery of the end towards which these countries are heading, especially when those who are not qualified are the ones taking charge of their affairs. It is the era of Ruwaibidah in the countries whose leaders decide tomorrow and not today.