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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. While learning Arabic in Syria, I learned the full extent of the Umayyad empire from its Damascene capital. The conquest of the West 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

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

Nothing quite prepared me for the exquisite, mathematical perfection of Alhambra. Lavishing on a rocky outcrop of the Sierra Nevada and gazing down on Granada, she is 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’; site of the royal endorsement for Columbus’ violent acquisition of the new world. She has seen and been seen.

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

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