Here he surrounded himself by objects of
taste in the arts, and by the works of the learned; he divided his
time between study and social enjoyment. He was fond of the sports
of the field, and kept horses, hawks, and hounds. He devoted himself
to literature, became renowned for erudition, and his compositions
in prose and verse were extolled for their beauty, and in the mouths
of every one.
Of a tender, susceptible heart, and extremely sensible to female
charms, he became the devoted lover of Hafsah. The passion was mutual,
and for once the course of true love appeared to run smooth. The
lovers were both young, equal in merit, fame, rank, and fortune,
enamored of each other's genius as well as person, and inhabiting a
region formed to be a realm of love and poetry. A poetical intercourse
was carried on between them that formed the delight of Granada. They
were continually interchanging verses and epistles, "the poetry of
which," says the Arabian writer, Al Makkari, "was like the language of
doves."
In the height of their happiness a change took place in the
government of Granada. It was the time when the Almohades, a Berber
tribe of Mount Atlas, had acquired the control of Moslem Spain, and
removed the seat of government from Cordova to Morocco. The Sultan
Abdelmuman governed Spain through his Walis and Alcaydes; and his son,
Sidi Abu Said, was made Wali of Granada.
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