In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and example,
Following the Messenger when he strove or traveled.
A collection of affection,
Proceeding.
Portraits from the lives of the Tabi'un,
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Scarcely had the Commander of the Faithful,
And the fifth of the Rightly Guided Caliphs,
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz,
Brushed the dust of his predecessor,
Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik, from his hands,
Than he hastened to reconsider the governors of the provinces,
Dismissing some and appointing others.
Among the foremost of those he employed
Was al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani,
For he entrusted him with the governorship of al-Andalus,
And the neighboring cities that had been conquered
In the lands of France.
The new prince set up his camp in the lands of al-Andalus,
And set out in search of sincere and righteous aides.
He asked those around him,
"Does anyone from the Tabi'un remain in these lands?"
They replied, "Yes, O Prince,
There still remains among us the noble Tabi'i,
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi."
Then they spoke to him of his knowledge of the Book of Allah,
His understanding of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
His valor in the fields of jihad,
And his longing for martyrdom.
He was not tempted by the fleeting things of this world.
Then they said to him,
"He met the noble Companion,
Abd Allah ibn Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him and his father,
And he took from him what Allah willed for him to take,
And followed his example in the greatest of ways."
Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani summoned
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi to meet him.
When he arrived,
He welcomed him most warmly,
And brought him close to his seat.
Then he sat for a while during the day, asking him about everything that occurred to him,
Seeking his counsel on many matters that perplexed him,
And testing him to gauge his capabilities.
He found him to be even better than he had been told,
And greater than what had been described to him.
He offered to appoint him to one of his major offices in al-Andalus,
But he said to him,
"O Prince,
I am but a man from the common people,
And I have come to these lands
To stand at one of the frontiers of the Muslims,
I have vowed myself to the pleasure of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
And I have carried my sword to exalt His word on earth.
You will find me, if Allah the Almighty wills,
More attached to you than your own shadow, as long as you hold to the truth,
And more obedient to you than your own fingertips,
As long as you obey Allah and His Messenger,
Without any office or governorship."
Not long passed,
Before al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani resolved to conquer all of France,
And annex it to the great state of Islam,
To take its vast lands as a path to the Balkan states,
And to proceed from the Balkans to Constantinople,
To fulfill the glad tidings of the Messenger, upon him be the best of prayers and the purest of peace.
The first step toward achieving this great goal
Depended on the occupation of the city of Narbonne,
For Narbonne was one of the largest French cities
Bordering the lands of al-Andalus.
Whenever the Muslims descended from the Pyrenees,
They found it standing before them like a mighty giant.
Moreover, it was the key to greater France,
And the aspiration of those who sought it.
Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani besieged the city of Narbonne,
Then offered its people Islam or the jizya.
This was difficult for them, and they refused.
So he launched attack after attack upon them,
And bombarded them with catapults,
Until the ancient, fortified city fell into the hands of the Muslims
After four weeks of heroic jihad,
The likes of which Europe had never witnessed before.
Then the victorious, triumphant commander hastened,
And headed with his massive army toward the city of Toulouse,
The capital of the province of Aquitaine.
He set up catapults around it from every side,
And bombarded it with war machines
The likes of which Europe had never known before,
Until the impregnable, fortified city was on the verge
Of falling before him.
At that moment, something happened that no one had anticipated.
Let us leave the narrative to the French orientalist Reinaud,
To convey to us the news of that battle.
Reinaud said,
"When victory was within the Muslims' grasp, or even closer,
The Duke of Aquitaine rose up,
Mobilizing the lands and the people for war against them.
He sent his messengers, and they roamed Europe from end to end,
Warning its kings and princes of the occupation of their lands,
And the enslavement of their women and children.
There was no people in Europe left
Who did not contribute their fiercest and most numerous warriors.
The abundance of the army, the violence of its movement, and the weight of its impact reached
A level the world had never known before,
To the extent that the dust flying beneath its feet
Obscured the sun from the Rhone region.
When the two hosts drew near,
It seemed to the people as if mountains were colliding with mountains.
Then a fierce battle raged between the two parties,
The likes of which history had never known before.
Al-Samh—or Dhu al-Dham, as we used to call him—
Appeared before our soldiers everywhere,
And leaped before his troops in every direction.
While he was doing so, he was struck by an arrow,
And he fell from his horse.
When the Muslims saw him lying on the ground,
Their resolve was shaken,
And their ranks began to falter.
Our massive army was in a position
To annihilate them to the last man,
Had divine providence not saved them through a genius commander,
Whom Europe would come to know later,
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi.
He took charge of their retreat with the least possible losses,
And returned with them to Spain.
But he was determined to renew the attack against us once more."
And now,
Have you seen how clouds clear away from the full moon on a dark night,
So that the lost may be illuminated by its light,
And the bewildered may be guided by its radiance?
Thus did the Battle of Toulouse clear away,
Revealing the unique hero of Islam,
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi.
And have you seen the thirsty, on the verge of death in the heart of the desert,
When water appears to them,
And they stretch out their hands toward it,
To scoop up a handful that restores their life?
Thus did the Muslim soldiers stretch out their hands to the great commander,
Seeking salvation through him,
And pledging their allegiance to him to hear and obey.
And no wonder,
For the Battle of Toulouse was
The first deep wound the Muslims had suffered since their feet first touched Europe.
And Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi was
The one who tended this wound,
With the gentle hand that surrounded it with care and attention,
And the great heart that poured affection upon it.
The news of the great setback suffered by the Muslims in France
Agonized the heart of the Caliphate in Damascus,
And the death of the brave hero,
Al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani,
Kindled in its breast the fire of zeal for revenge.
So it issued its orders
Confirming the soldiers' pledge of allegiance to Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi,
And entrusted him with the governorship of al-Andalus from end to end,
Adding to his authority the neighboring conquered French lands,
And giving him a free hand to act as he wished.
No wonder,
For al-Ghafiqi was firm and resolute,
Pious and pure,
Wise and courageous.
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi hastened,
From the moment he was entrusted with the governorship of al-Andalus,
To work on restoring the soldiers' confidence in themselves,
And reclaiming their sense of pride, strength, and victory,
And achieving the great goal that the Muslim leaders in al-Andalus had aspired to,
Starting with Musa ibn Nusayr,
And ending with al-Samh ibn Malik al-Khawlani.
For the ambitions of these heroes were set
On launching from France to Italy and Germany,
And proceeding from there to Constantinople,
Making the Mediterranean Sea an Islamic lake,
And renaming it the Sea of al-Sham instead of the Sea of the Romans.
But Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi
Was certain that preparation for great battles
Begins with reforming and purifying the souls.
He believed that no nation could achieve its goal of victory
If its fortresses were fractured and threatened from within.
Therefore, he set out to tour the lands of al-Andalus, city after city,
And ordered the heralds to call out to the people:
"Whoever has a grievance against any governor,
Or any judge, or anyone else,
Let him bring it to the Prince."
And there was no difference in that between Muslims and the non-Muslim subjects under treaty.
Then he began to look into the grievances, one by one,
Dispensing justice for the weak against the strong,
And taking for the oppressed from the oppressor.
Then he began to investigate the matter of the churches that had been seized or newly built,
Returning what the treaties dictated to their owners.
Then he looked into the affairs of his officials, one by one,
Dismissing those whose treachery or corruption was proven,
And appointing in their place those whose wisdom, experience, and righteousness he trusted.
Whenever he arrived in a city,
He would call the people to a collective prayer,
Then stand before them as a preacher,
And set out to urge them toward jihad,
He inspired them with the desire for martyrdom.
He gave them hope for the pleasure of Allah and the attainment of His reward.
Abd al-Rahman matched his words with deeds.
He supported his aspirations with actions.
From the very first moment of his governorship, he set to work.
He prepared the equipment and completed the armaments.
He repaired the strongholds and built fortresses.
He constructed bridges and erected arches.
Among the greatest of his constructions was
the bridge of Cordoba, the capital of al-Andalus.
He built it over the great river of Cordoba,
so that the people and the army could cross it,
and to protect the land and safeguard the people from the dangers of flooding.
This bridge is considered one of the wonders of the world.
Its length reached eight hundred cubits,
and a cubit is the measure of the span of two outstretched arms.
Its height was sixty cubits,
and its width was twenty.
The number of its arches reached
—that is, its spans—eighteen arches.
The number of its towers was nineteen.
It still stands today, and Spain continues to benefit from it
to this very day.
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi used to make it a point
to meet with the military commanders
and the notables of the people in every land he entered.
He would listen with all his attention to everything they said,
record everything they proposed,
and contemplate everything they advised.
He disciplined himself in these gatherings
to listen much
and speak little.
Just as al-Ghafiqi would meet with the prominent Muslims,
he would also meet with the leaders of the protected non-Muslim subjects (ahl al-dhimma) who had treaties.
He would often ask them
about matters of their lands that were hidden from him,
and about the conditions of their kings and commanders that occupied his thoughts.
On one occasion,
he summoned one of the prominent treaty-holders from the people of France,
and held a wide-ranging conversation with him.
Then he said to him:
"What is the matter with your great king, Charles?
Why does he not confront us in battle,
and why does he not aid the provincial kings against us?"
He replied:
"O Prince,
you have fulfilled your side of the treaty you made with us,
so it is your right upon us
that we tell you the truth regarding what you ask.
Your great commander, Musa Ibn Nusayr,
tightened his grip on all of Spain.
Then his ambition soared to cross the Pyrenees mountains,
which separate the lands of al-Andalus from our beautiful country.
So the provincial kings and their priests fled to our great king,
and said to him:
'What is this disgrace that has clung to us and our descendants forever, O King?
We used to hear of the Muslims only by report,
and we feared their sudden attack upon us from the direction of the sunrise.
And now, here they have come from the direction of the sunset,
seized all of Spain,
and taken possession of all the equipment and armaments within it.
They have ascended the mountain peaks that separate us from them,
even though their numbers are few and their weapons are meager.
Most of them do not possess armor to protect them from the strikes of swords,
nor a horse to ride into the fields of battle.'
The king said to them:
'I have thought much about what has occurred to your minds,
and I have pondered it for a long time.
I have decided that we should not confront those people in this current surge of theirs,
for they are now like a torrential flood;
it uproots everything that stands in its path,
carries it along, and casts it wherever it wills.
I have found that they are a people who possess a creed and an intention
that suffice them against the abundance of numbers and wealth.
They have faith and sincerity
that take the place of armor and horses.
But wait for them until their hands are filled with spoils,
until they take houses and palaces for themselves,
and until they accumulate many slave girls and servants,
and compete among themselves for leadership.
At that point, you will be able to overcome them with the easiest of means and the least of effort.'"
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi bowed his head in sadness,
sighed a deep sigh,
concluded the meeting, and said:
"Hasten to prayer, for its time has drawn near."
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi spent two full years
preparing the equipment for the great conquest.
He organized the battalions and mobilized the soldiers.
He sharpened their resolve and enlivened their hearts.
He sought aid from the governor of Africa,
who supplied him with an elite group of soldiers
who were burning with longing for jihad
and consumed with a desire for martyrdom.
Then he sent word to Uthman Ibn Abi Nas'ah, the governor of the frontier,
to distract the enemy with his raids
until he himself arrived with the main body of the army.
But this Uthman
harbored resentment toward any commander
who was of high ambition and great aspiration,
who undertook a great deed that would raise his mention among the people
and overshadow other governors and officials.
Add to that
that he had captured in one of his previous raids
into France
the daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine,
who was called Menine.
This Menine
was a girl in the prime of her youth and of exquisite beauty.
She combined the allure of beauty with the pride of royalty,
and blended the radiance of youth
with the coquetry of palace-born maidens.
She captivated his heart with love,
to a degree that his wife had never enjoyed.
She had persuaded him to make peace with her father,
so he concluded a treaty with him
in which he secured him against the raids of the Muslims
on his province, which bordered
the Andalusian frontiers.
When the order of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi reached him
to march on the lands of his father-in-law, the Duke of Aquitaine,
he was taken aback,
bewildered, not knowing what to do.
But he soon took the initiative
and wrote to the Prince al-Ghafiqi,
questioning him regarding what he had ordered him to do,
and telling him that he could not
violate the treaty with the Duke of Aquitaine
before its term expired.
Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi was enraged by him,
and sent word to him saying that the treaty
was not binding,
nor did it bind the Muslim armies to anything,
and that he must hasten to carry out
what he had ordered him to do without hesitation or delay.
When Ibn Abi Nas'ah despaired
of moving the Prince from his resolve,
he sent a messenger to his father-in-law to inform him
of what had happened and to invite him to take
caution. But the eyes of Abd al-Rahman
were monitoring the movements of Ibn Abi Nas'ah
and his stillness, so they reported to the Prince
the news of his contact with the enemy.
Al-Ghafiqi took action and prepared a battalion,
choosing its men from among those of strength and valor,
and entrusted its command to a mujahid
from among the experienced warriors,
and ordered him to bring Uthman Ibn Abi Nas'ah
alive or dead.
They were about to catch him,
had he not sensed them at the last moment,
so he fled to the mountains,
accompanied by a number of his men,
and with him was his beautiful wife, Menine,
whom he never parted with,
and for whom he saw no value in the world without her.
The battalion pursued him,
and surrounded him and those with him.
He defended her like a lion defending its cub,
and continued to fight on her behalf
until he fell dead,
with his body bearing countless sword strikes
and spear thrusts.
The soldiers severed his head,
and carried it, along with the beautiful princess,
to Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi.
When she stood before him,
he turned his face away from her,
then sent her as a gift to the Caliphate.
Thus ended the life of the beautiful French princess
in the harem of the Umayyad Caliph in Damascus.
Al-Ghafiqi:
A true reflection of Musa Ibn Nusayr
and Tariq Ibn Ziyad
in loftiness of ambition
and nobility of purpose. The historians
recount their positions and examples;
they followed the Messenger when he strove or spoke.
They were here, watering our lives like rain,
and their memory remains exalted among us.
They departed and left a question in the conscience:
Is there a star like them that has risen and shone?
And like them, a star that has risen and shone.
And like them, a star that has risen and shone.
And like them, a star that has risen and shone.
Is there a star like them that has risen and shone?
They filled life
with pride through their deeds,
and the world of the Ummah flourished because of them.