Turning to his Moslem
attendants, the Pacha stroked his beard, and broke forth in passionate
lamentations, that such a sceptre should have fallen from the sway
of true believers. He consoled himself, however, with the
persuasion, that the power and prosperity of the Spanish nation were
on the decline; that a time would come when the Moors would
reconquer their rightful domains; and that the day was perhaps not far
distant, when Mohammedan worship would again be offered up in the
Mosque of Cordova, and a Mohammedan prince sit on his throne in the
Alhambra.
Such is the general aspiration and belief among the Moors of
Barbary, who consider Spain, or Andaluz, as it was anciently called,
their rightful heritage, of which they have been despoiled by
treachery and violence. These ideas are fostered and perpetuated by
the descendants of the exiled Moors of Granada, scattered among the
cities of Barbary. Several of these reside in Tetuan, preserving their
ancient names, such as Paez and Medina, and refraining from
intermarriage with any families who cannot claim the same high origin.
Their vaunted lineage is regarded with a degree of popular
deference, rarely shown in Mohammedan communities to any hereditary
distinction, excepting in the royal line.
These families, it is said, continue to sigh after the terrestrial
paradise of their ancestors, and to put up prayers in their mosques on
Fridays, imploring Allah to hasten the time when Granada shall be
restored to the faithful: an event to which they look forward as
fondly and confidently as did the Christian crusaders to the
recovery of the Holy Sepulchre.
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