. The sword of Islam. believed, a paperwas found in the handwriting of the Khalif—a titleassumed in 929—in which he had enumeratedthe days of happiness and freedom from care; thetotal during a reign of forty-nine years was no morethan fourteen! Well may the Arab annalist havemoralised in these touching words, O man ofunderstanding! wonder and observe how small aportion of unclouded happiness the world can giveeven to the most fortunate. His son and successor Hakam II. ( 961), waspeaceful and scholarly, and cared naught for theresponsibilities of empire. The one dream of his lifewas to
. The sword of Islam. believed, a paperwas found in the handwriting of the Khalif—a titleassumed in 929—in which he had enumeratedthe days of happiness and freedom from care; thetotal during a reign of forty-nine years was no morethan fourteen! Well may the Arab annalist havemoralised in these touching words, O man ofunderstanding! wonder and observe how small aportion of unclouded happiness the world can giveeven to the most fortunate. His son and successor Hakam II. ( 961), waspeaceful and scholarly, and cared naught for theresponsibilities of empire. The one dream of his lifewas to collect rare manuscripts, and truly may it besaid, his efforts made the Library of Cordova one ofthe marvels of the world. At a time when printingwas unknown, he amassed no less than 400,000volumes, all of which, it is said, though it may bedoubted, Hakam himself had read. Thus passed fourteen years during which theRoyal Book Collector sat upon the throne of his death in 976, his son Hisham II., a. MosguE IN Cordova. [Tof(ici p. 172. AD. 978] THE FLAl^TERING CLERK 173 stripling of tender years, succeeded to the heritage ofsovereignty. He followed in the footsteps of hisfather, but it soon became apparent that monarchyhas its duties as well as its pleasures and often happens in Eastern lands that when thestrong hand of power is lacking, intrigues arefomented amongst the ladies of the Imperial formed no exception to the rule, and SultanaAurora, the mother of the young Khalif, by degreesacquired an amount of influence second to no one inthe empire. She was seconded by a young manwhose rise to fame and power was largely due to hersupport and patronage. It chanced that a humblestudent at the University of Cordova—a youth ofgreat capacity and promise—succeeded in securing atrifling post at Court as professional letter writer tothe royal servants : while in this position he managedto attract the notice of the Grand Chamberlain, whoaf
Size: 1388px × 1799px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1905
