Al-Mansur

Scene one;

The last rays of sun were filtering through the narrow fronds of palm trees in the courtyard of

Cordoba Mosque. Four students with their white turbans were sitting quietly on the floor of grand mosque.” What are you worried about friend?” asked one student from the other who seemed to be in deep thoughts.’’ I am thinking about the day when I will have to manage the matters of state’’ responded the tall thin fellow. The laughter broke out among the friends who started looking at him with astonishment. Yes! I am saying it right, so you have the time to ask what u want for that day. I love orchids and gardens so I would like to be the chief of Codoba’s gardens, demanded one. The other friend asked for governorship of Moldova while the third friend suddenly rose up and slapped on the face of poor fellow. You can’t be the minister of Andalus even in the upcoming thousands of years and, if for God’s sake, this thing happens, you will have the permission to paint my face black.

Scene two;

It was an ordinary morning of 979 A.D and the shops of Cordoba market were still closed. there appeared a crowd of street children following and throwing stones at a donkey rider having his face blackened with charcoal. He was the same fellow who demanded this fate. Ibne Abi Aamir came to power three years after the death of caliph Hisham II.

According to the Muslim historians the Abdul Rahman Al-dakhil’s dream of great Andalusian kingdom came to reality under the rule of Aamir. During his reign the area of Muslim Spain extended beyond the boundaries of Mount Pyrenees. During each summer,according to a prescheduled plan, Aamir would cross the Mountain Pyrenees and raided the Christian states of Leon, Castile, Barcelona and Navarre. 

During his life time Andalus reached its cultural height.The city of Cordoba was one of the most populous city in the world with hundreds of public libraries, fifty thousand cemented houses and paved illuminated streets. The agriculture and trade flourished tremendously as well as the art and architecture. Aaamir himself was a great scholar and a pious man. He had such an endurance that once he was listening to the delegates in court, a stench of roasting meat spread in the hall. The people then came to know that a physician was branding the fresh wound of emperor and still there were no signs of pain on his face.

During his reign he participated and led more than fifty campaigns and never lost a single one thus earning the title of Almasoor (the conqueror).In 1002 AD on his way back from a successful campaign he became sick and died at the ripe age of 60.He was buried in a small town; Madina salim (now medinacaeli) in Soria. The dust was sprinkled on his face which he used to collect from his battledress  after returning from each campaign and he was buried in a coffin made by fiber which his daughters spun out of his personal cotton plant  field .The Christian states felt much relieved by his death as it can be seen in the exclamation made by one of their famous religious scholar “At last, Aamir died today and went to hell!”.

The grave stone on his grave once read ‘’his grave will remind you of him and the time will never see like him’’. Today although he is lying at some unknown place in the deserted town of Medinaceli, but we see that time had never seen anyone like him , neither the Andalus rose to that climax again.