In
his seventy-ninth year (A. D. 1272) he took the field on horseback,
accompanied by the flower of his chivalry, to resist an invasion of
his territories. As the army sallied forth from Granada, one of the
principal adalides, or guides, who rode in the advance, accidentally
broke his lance against the arch of the gate. The councillors of the
king, alarmed by this circumstance, which was considered an evil omen,
entreated him to return. Their supplications were in vain. The king
persisted, and at noontide the omen, say the Moorish chroniclers,
was fatally fulfilled. Alhamar was suddenly struck with illness, and
had nearly fallen from his horse. He was placed on a litter, and borne
back towards Granada but his illness increased to such a degree that
they were obliged to pitch his tent in the Vega. His physicians were
filled with consternation, not knowing what remedy to prescribe. In
a few hours he died, vomiting blood and in violent convulsions. The
Castilian prince, Don Philip, brother of Alonzo X, was by his side
when he expired. His body was embalmed, enclosed in a silver coffin,
and buried in the Alhambra in a sepulchre of precious marble, amidst
the unfeigned lamentations of his subjects, who bewailed him as a
parent.
I have said that he was the first of the illustrious line of Nasar
that sat upon a throne. I may add that he was the founder of a
brilliant kingdom, which will ever be famous in history and romance,
as the last rallying place, of Moslem power and splendor in the
peninsula.
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