Moorish King of Seville, Poet, and friend of Rodrigo "El Cid Campeador" Diaz. After Alfonso VI of Leon exiled the Cid from his lands, Motamid was one of the first people that offered, and the Cid worked for the Moor for some time. But when Motamid feared Alfonso might take his lands, he could not turn to the Cid, as Alfonso was still the Cid's rightful leader. Desperate, Motamid contacted a Berber tribe in North Africa, the Almoravids. The choice was difficult for Motamid. Alfonso was powerful, but Yusuf ibn Tashafin, the Almoravid leader, was equally ambitious. In the end, Motamid hired the Berbers, writing "I do not want a curse to be leveled against me in all the mosques of Islam, and faced with the choice, I would rather drive the camels of the Almoravids than be a swineherd among Christians." In 1086, the Berbers crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Marching on Toledo, they fought the Christians at Sagrajas and crushed them, but it was not a victory. Yusuf withdrew because internal schisms at home had to be dealt with, and so the campaign ended inconclusively. Things were quiet for a long while, but within four years the Christians were back on track and the Almoravids crossed the sea yet again. This time, however, Yusuf came for himself. Granada, Cordoba and Seville were seized easily. Motamid and his love al-Rumaikiyya were sent into exile and poverty by Yusuf in North Africa. When his death was near, Motamid, ever the poet, wrote a verse which read: "Tomb of the Foreigner. You who take as your own the dried remains of Ibn Abbad. May the clouds that pass never water you!" This verse is now an epitaph near his tomb in Aghmat.
Moorish King of Seville, Poet, and friend of Rodrigo "El Cid Campeador" Diaz. After Alfonso VI of Leon exiled the Cid from his lands, Motamid was one of the first people that offered, and the Cid worked for the Moor for some time. But when Motamid feared Alfonso might take his lands, he could not turn to the Cid, as Alfonso was still the Cid's rightful leader. Desperate, Motamid contacted a Berber tribe in North Africa, the Almoravids. The choice was difficult for Motamid. Alfonso was powerful, but Yusuf ibn Tashafin, the Almoravid leader, was equally ambitious. In the end, Motamid hired the Berbers, writing "I do not want a curse to be leveled against me in all the mosques of Islam, and faced with the choice, I would rather drive the camels of the Almoravids than be a swineherd among Christians." In 1086, the Berbers crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Marching on Toledo, they fought the Christians at Sagrajas and crushed them, but it was not a victory. Yusuf withdrew because internal schisms at home had to be dealt with, and so the campaign ended inconclusively. Things were quiet for a long while, but within four years the Christians were back on track and the Almoravids crossed the sea yet again. This time, however, Yusuf came for himself. Granada, Cordoba and Seville were seized easily. Motamid and his love al-Rumaikiyya were sent into exile and poverty by Yusuf in North Africa. When his death was near, Motamid, ever the poet, wrote a verse which read: "Tomb of the Foreigner. You who take as your own the dried remains of Ibn Abbad. May the clouds that pass never water you!" This verse is now an epitaph near his tomb in Aghmat.
Bio by: Mongoose
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