Monday, March 15, 2004

 
The Accomodationist's Last Sigh(1)


I tried to channel ol' Queen Isabella, but she only referred me to Aisha, the mother of Boabdil. I think I emailed this one years ago, but will quote Jack Weatherford from his "Savages And Civilization" page 140: "Boabdil was the last of his dynasty, which ruled for 254 years in the southeastern corner of Spain, the last foothold of Muslim power on the peninsula. The great fortress of the Alhambra never fell in battle. Knowing that he had been completely defeated and that his armies could no longer hold off the Christians, Boabdil left the fortress to surrender his sword in an area of the city known as Abaicin....Legend says that Boabdil wept as he left the beautiful Alhambra. When he reached the pass through the mountains, he looked back on his beloved Granada for the last time at a place still called Suspiro del Moro, the Moor's Sigh, and in one of the most biting comments in history, his mother, Aisha, supposedly turned to him and said,[As she seemed to be saying last night to Spain.] 'It is right that you cry like a woman for what you could not defend like a man.' A broken man, Boabdil retired with his loyal followers to Fez, in Morocco."
She then went on to say that she had been a bit too harsh on her son and that she was glad that he had more cajones than your average Spaniard of today.

1. Limited apologies go out to the apologist for the Sandinistas, author of "The Jaguar Smile," and address unknown.