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Spain

Granada (غرناطة), Toledo (طليطلة), Sevilla (إشبيلية), Ronda (رندة), Cordoba (قرطبة), Cadiz (قادس), Medina Azahara (الأزهار), Jerez (شريش). The evocations are endless. I learned the full extent of the Umayyad empire while studying Arabic in its Damascene capital. The conquest of the European continent from the African Maghreb, the surrender of Iberia, and the birth of the Cordoba Emirate. An oasis of science, philosophy, healing and invention during the Islamic Golden Age.

Spain

Inspired by the opulent beauty of Umayyad Damascus, I had to see it. With Ines as my Spanish-speaking guide we planned a journey to discover the magic of Al-Andalus (الأندلس), while lazing in the palaces and hammams of old town Aleppo.

Nothing quite prepared us for the exquisite, mathematical perfection of Alhambra. Lavishing on a rocky outcrop of the Sierra Nevada and gazing down on Granada, she was a haven of unsurpassable beauty brought back from the brink of ruin. Palace and fortress of the Cordoban Emirs; court of Isabella and Ferdinand, ‘scourge of the Muslims’; venue for the royal endorsement of Columbus’ violent acquisition of the New World. She had seen and been seen.

Blushing red in the dusky sun, surrounded by hordes of scented roses, seducing great armies of besieging bees, she entreated us to enter and never leave. Inside her charms, cool marble fountains, geometric incantations, and waves of elegantly folded pillars mediated the consummation of our pilgrimage: the uninterrupted contemplation of her flawless, eternally intricate, and mesmerising domes. We became her humble servants.

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