On the first Wednesday in the current month of Rajab, I informed my wife of what I had decided to do. Close to sunset, I brought Khalid and three confidants to my closet. I made Khalid swear an oath to treat the woman he wished to marry with all due kindness, then allowed him to meet his bride-to-be and spend some time alone talking to her. After that, two legal witnesses arrived with Hamada, and the wedding contract was settled in accordance with the practice enjoined by God and His messenger. Throughout the ceremonies and the small reception afterward, the groom looked absolutely delighted. He leaned over and thanked me for bringing it all about, and received the congratulations of his three companions, duly leavened, of course, by a certain amount of joking and banter.
Once the two witnesses had departed, Khalid immediately started talking. "Thanks to this blessed marriage," he said, "my health and well-being are fully restored. Now I want to remind my master, who is entirely responsible for my happiness, that I made him a promise."
I had not forgotten that he had promised to take my letter to the king of Sicily, but I still wanted to find out why he was so keen to undertake the task when he was only just married.
"During my brief meeting with 'Abla," he told me, "we agreed that our wedding night would be next Friday. Two days later, we plan to travel to Sicily so I can complete this task for my master. Then we plan to visit many other countries. 'Abla is even more eager than I to tour around God's broad and wonderful domains."
His three friends started joking with each other, some of which I could hear. "So Khalid's eager to make attractive nature scenes a partner in his marriage! He needs them as witnesses and to have them dance for him!"
For my part, I was keen to support the groom's decision, and so I asked 'Abd al to record what I said in a neat, clear hand. Here is what I said:
"Praise be to God, the one, the unique!
"From 'Abd al-Haqq ibn Muhammad ibn Sabin to the ruler of the Christians in this age:
"Peace be to the one who emphasized the oneness of God Almighty!
"I have responded earlier to your questions concerning specific philosophical issues. In my reply I used some rather severe expressions, not out of a desire to show contempt but rather as a way of directing your interest toward independent inquiry and research and of provoking deeper levels of questioning and investigation. Any genuinely educated person who is either reluctant or negligent will inevitably go astray and fail to achieve the desired goal.
"In this short letter of mine I shall focus on a single topic, one that I would not be bringing to your attention were it not for the admirable qualities with which God has clearly endowed you: chivalry, generosity, courage, and bravery-traits that are similarly prized by Muslims. All that is over and above the other qualities for which you are already well known to Muslims, the love and estimation that you have already shown for their sciences and your announced inclination toward their cultural values, and that in spite of the opprobrium you have earned from those of your race and religion. With all that background in mind, learn a verse of the noble Qur'an-may God grant you success! — as addressed by Muhammad, the faithful Prophet of Islam, to Heraclius, ruler of the Byzantines at the very outset of his blessed and luminous mission: `You people of the Book, draw close to a word that is common between us and you: that we should worship none but God alone, that we do not associate anything with Him, and that some of us do not adopt others as gods apart from God Himself. If they turn away, then proclaim that we are Muslims.' (The Lord of Mankind has spoken the truth [Sura 3, v. 64].) As it stands, this utterance serves to bring together beneath a single covering firmament of monotheism all those people who aspire to Islam or other faiths and who hope for peace as both a modality and a goal. It is this very statement that Muslims and those People of the Book who support their views have tried to establish, foster, and protect as a basic principle. In so doing they have resorted to creative ideas, sharing of gifts, and development of movements and monuments-all that in the land of Andalus, the ideal society where communities work together and share their learning.
"But in this era of ours we have witnessed an assault launched by those bearing swords and crosses, with the Castilians at their head. Their only goal has been to demolish this creative monotheistic fabric and destroy all dreams of civilization and peace. They have combined forces in order to attack Muslims and bring them low, spreading decay through homes, farmlands, and buildings. Anyone who has resisted them has been crushed and banished, forcing entire families and communities into exile. Since there is neither a religiously based factor to restrain them nor sacred texts from prophets and messengers of the past to give them pause, treaties and pacts have been systematically broken.
"Your Majesty, if you would only acquaint yourself with the current situation in the Iberian Peninsula, you would learn about the extreme levels of injustice and cruelty that people are suffering-something to make your heart bleed, the kind of images that the Castilians are at some pains to embellish as far as possible due to their own blind fanaticism and the sheer power of their weaponry and its fiery destructive capabilities. Just consider the matter for a moment and look at it from every point of view, invoking the aid of both intellect and a sense of justice. Once the truth has shed its light in your heart, you will be able to deploy troops of men firm in their faith and supply them with the siege-engines, ballistas, and flame-throwers that they will need, equipment that you have in plenty. So, please hasten to respond to this urgent request-may God tend you with his care! You will then be entitled to the bounteous reward that comes to those who support the true words of faith. Your name will forever be mentioned in the records of those who work to make Spain a land where adherents of all monotheistic faiths may live in brotherhood-a model for emulation by others and a beacon light.
"I shall await your written response, which you can give to the person who has brought this letter of mine to you. The end.
"And greetings to you and to all those who take note and allow themselves to be properly guided. The direct morphological linkage between the words `Salam' and `Islam' is one that only idiots and people with malicious intent would choose to ignore."
As I placed my seal on the letter, my companions tried to outdo each other in lauding its logic and complimenting me. I asked 'Abd al-'Ali to make me a copy and to give the original to Khalid. We now heard the call to sunset prayers, so we all stood up and performed them in place. Once that was done, we celebrated Khalid's marriage to 'Abla by feasting ourselves from a set of bowls that Hamada had brought in.
"Come on there, Antar the bold!" he told the groom as he praised the food to the very skies, "eat some of the food cooked by your lady, Abla…!"
Once we had finished eating, we started to chat. The major topic was the role that King Frederic was playing in the Crusader wars extending all the way to the Muslim East in spite of the fact that Salah al-din's victories had made the conflict that much more vicious and harmful. By contrast the king's attitude eschewed the fanaticism of the European monarchs and the heads of their church and showed a distinct sympathy toward the Muslims who had lost lands and entire territories. I pointed out two things to my colleagues: first, the support that King Frederic had provided to the Mamluk* Al-Malik al-Kamil against his brother, Al-Malik al-Mu'azzam, who was conspiring against him, in return for which the Mamluk sultan gave him virtual authority over Jerusalem and some Ayyubid* cities in Palestine, with the proviso that the holy places and actual administrative power remain in Muslim hands (rather like being anointed from an empty bottle); and second, the threat posed by the Castilians and their allies had been greatly increased by the defeat of the Christian Crusaders who were now returning in droves from the east and eager to take revenge on Muslims in the west, even in Spain itself. We were all unanimous in our view that the immediate threat presented by the Christians in Spain could only be effectively repelled by the Almohads and the growing power of the Tunisian Hafsids, all with the help of the Sicilian king-in addition, needless to say, to assistance from God, the One, the All-powerful.