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Culture Contact Between the Islamic East and the European West
The Arab Islamic character of Spanish history quickly influenced contemporary literature. However, this influence of Andalusian culture was countered by Christian, Latin and Greek culture.
Andalusians were so fond of history that, according to Ibn Sa'ed Al Maghribi, they considered it the noblest science. This motivated them to search in old Latin and Greek sources for information on the history of Spain as well as of their neighbours. Any investigation of the information provided by Andalusian historians and geographers on the Christian kingdoms in northern Spain and beyond indicates they had access to old Latin Christian records which are lost today or they obtained it from Christians and Jews who were living in Andalusia and who were familiar with those Christian kingdoms. Whatever the case, it shows that these historians were influenced by the Christian Latin culture and that they mastered the Spanish language which was widely known among Andalusian Muslims, as explicitly stated by legislator Ibn Hasm Al Qurtubi.
The main reference from which Andalusian geographers and historians derived their information about the history of the Romans and nations that ruled Spain before Islam may have been Paulus Horosius book entitled; 'The Seven Dates in Refuting the Pagans'. Paulus was a Roman monk who lived in Spain at the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century Hijra. Because of the importance of this book, legislator Qassim Ibn Asbagh Al Bayani translated it into Arabic in collaboration with the judge and translator Al Walid Ibn Al Khaizaran also known as Ibn Mughayth during the reign of Caliph Abdul Rahman Al Nasir (300-350 A.H.). Andalusian historians and geographers made use of this Arabic translation.
News of Christian Spanish and European Kingdoms contemporary to the Islamic rule of Andalusia is abundant in the works of Andalusian geographers and historians, with an evident Spanish and Latin impact. Examples of the mutual interaction between these two neighbouring cultures can be clearly seen in the stories of Al Uthri, Al -Bakri, Al -Idrisi, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Al Kutiah, Ibn Habban and Ibn Al Khatib, etc.
Andalusians were also influenced by Greek culture which was familiar to them. The poet Sa'd Ibn Abd Rabbu (d. 341 A.H.) cousin to the author of 'Al Iqd Al -Farid', was specialized in Greek writings and sciences. Ibn Al Khatib indicates that Greek knowledge was taught in Andalusia, especially to the sons of the aristocracy. Perhaps the most important scientific accomplishment undertaken in Andalusia in this field was the translation of the famous Greek book 'Single Medicines' better known as the Book of Herbs by the Greek physician Dioscorides who lived in the first century A.D. Historians record that when the Andalusian Caliph Abdul Rahman Al Nasir received a copy of this book as a gift from the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII in 337 A.H., he set up a scientific committee to translate it into Arabic. The appearance of the Arabic translation encouraged the Andalusians to study medicine and medicinal plants and adopt Dioscorides book as their main reference, thus demonstrating the impact of Greek culture on the civilization of Andalusia.
Though Andalusia benefited from Latin and Greek cultures, it contributed greatly to Spanish literature, chronicles and epics immediately after the Islamic conquest. This indicates that writers were stimulated by Arabic culture especially in Islamic Toledo in the northern part of Islamic Spain.
Even after its fall in 478 A.H./1085 A.D., Toledo maintained its Arabic stamp for several centuries; Muslim scientists, Arabized Christians and Jews continued their meetings in the courts of its Christian monarchs and translated Arabic books into Latin. These books were either Arabic translations from Greek, Persian and Indian books or they were written by Muslim scientists themselves as new works. They were equally new to Europe with its learning system restricted to religious hymns. The translators' school in Toledo became a major cultural centre attracting scientists and scholars from various parts of Europe. One of the senior scientists who supervised this scientific movement was Jorgede Rada, the archbishop of Toledo (1170-1247 A. D). He knew several languages including Arabic which helped him greatly to make use of Arabic sources and in writing the Islamic chapter in his sizeable Cronica Del Toledano on the history of the Romans, Goths and Arabs. When Alfonso The Wise became king of Spain in the middle of the thirteenth century he supported the Toledo school, and patronized its scientists, encouraging them to continue their translation work. He even took part in laying down the plan of work. This renaissance was characterized by the use of the Castilian (Spanish) language instead of Latin in writing literary, historical and philosophical works. Through this approach, this school cast all these Arab, Latin and Greek works into a Castilian mould. This king's concern was not limited to Toledo as a cultural center because he established other centres at Murcia and Seville which he made his capital city.
According to history books and biographies, a large number of Muslim scientists mastered Spanish and used to debate with Christian scientists on various matters, both religious and secular. An example is the Granadan scientist Mohammad Al-Rukuti who was entrusted by King Alfonso with the teaching of Christians and Jews at the Academy of Murcia. Another is scientist Abdulla Ibn Sahl also from Granada, who lived in the 7th Hijri century and who was so famous in mathematics that Christians allover Spain used to call at his residence in the city of Baeza to debate with him and to benefit from his knowledge. There is no room here to list all the scientific works translated under the supervision of King Alfonso The Wise. However, it is possible to mention some commentaries and philosophies of Islamic thought such as: Ibn Rushd's commentaries on Aristotle; the Illustrations of Ibn Baja, the views of the Sufi Muhi Al Din Ibn Arabi, and the message of Hai Ibn Yakzan by Ibn Tufail and the Arab literary 'maqamat' that left a kind of Spanish novel called Novela Picaresca or Epopeya del hambre 'song of hunger'. It has also been proved that one of the images of the Prophet's Ascension was translated from Arabic into the Castilian, French and Latin languages on the orders of king Alfonso The Wise in 1264 A.D. This allowed Dante to acquire one of these translations, perhaps through his teacher Brunetto Latini who travelled between Florence and Castile.
However, the major scientific achievement under the supervision of this king was the historical chronicle entitled: Primera Cronica General de Espana Primary General History of Spain. This chronicle was based on numerous lost Arab sources such as the history of Ahmad Al Razi Al Ourtubi (d. 344 A.H.), and the history of Ibn Al Kama Albalanci (d. 509 A.H.) and so it preserved important information from this lost legacy. This chronicle also contained a number of Andalusian epics relevant to the events of the Muslims in Spain including:
The Epic of the Seven Sons of Lara-Los Infantes de Lara-which is a description of the age of chamberlain Al Mansour Ibn Abi Amir; the Epic of Muslim Zaida-La Mora Zaida- the wife of Al Ma'moun Ibn Al Mu'atamad Ibn Abbad who was killed by the Almoravids in Cordoba; the epic of 'El Cid Campeador' who controlled Valencia at the end of the 5th Hijri century (11C A.D.). Historians noticed that these epics have many Arab elements; the events, though presented as fiction, are closely related to the life of Muslims in Spain. They also notice that the stories were commonly in the form of verses in Roman or colloquial Latin until king Alfonso The Wise had them recorded in Castilian.
From the above, we conclude that the major historical chronicle of king Alfonso is a wonderful example of the role played by Andalusia as a cultural bridge between east and west.