On April 29 711, the armies of Tariq, coming from Africa, landed at Gibraltar, Spain (the name Gibraltar is derived from the Arabic name Jabal al Tariq, which means mountain of Tariq).
The 17th century Muslim historian Al-Maqqari wrote that Tariq burned his ships upon landing and then made his well known speech to his soldiers:
"Oh my warriors, whither would you flee? Behind you is the sea, before you, the enemy. You have left now only the hope of your courage and your constancy. Remember that in this country you are more unfortunate than the orphan seated at the table of the avaricious master. Your enemy is before you, protected by an innumerable army; he has men in abundance, but you, as your only aid, have your own swords, and, as your only chance for life, such chance as you can snatch from the hands of your enemy. If the absolute want to which you are reduced is prolonged ever so little, if you delay to seize immediate success, your good fortune will vanish, and your enemies, whom your very presence has filled with fear, will take courage. Put far from you the disgrace from which you flee in dreams, and attack this monarch who has left his strongly fortified city to meet you. Here is a splendid opportunity to defeat him, if you will consent to expose yourselves freely to death. Do not believe that I desire to incite you to face dangers which I shall refuse to share with you. In the attack I myself will be in the fore, where the chance of life is always least.
Remember that if you suffer a few moments in patience, you will afterward enjoy supreme delight. Do not imagine that your fate can be separated from mine, and rest assured that if you fall, I shall perish with you, or avenge you. The Commander of True Believers, Alwalid, son of Abdalmelik, has chosen you for this attack from among all his Arab warriors; and he promises that you shall become his comrades and shall hold the rank of kings in this country. Such is his confidence in your intrepidity. The one fruit which he desires to obtain from your bravery is that the word of God shall be exalted in this country, and that the true religion shall be established here. The spoils will belong to yourselves.
Remember that I place myself in the front of this glorious charge which I exhort you to make. At the moment when the two armies meet hand to hand, you will see me, never doubt it, seeking out this Roderick, tyrant of his people, challenging him to combat, if God is willing. If I perish after this, I will have had at least the satisfaction of delivering you, and you will easily find among you an experienced hero, to whom you can confidently give the task of directing you. But should I fall before I reach to Roderick, redouble your ardor, force yourselves to the attack and achieve the conquest of this country, in depriving him of life. With him dead, his soldiers will no longer defy you."
The Muslim armies swept through Hispania and in the summer of 711 won a decisive victory when the Visigothic king, Roderic, was defeated and killed on July 19 at the Battle of Guadalete. Tarık bin Ziyad was promoted as the governor of Andulisia and then called back to Damascus, Syria to spent rest of his life.
Muslims remained in Spain for 780 years! They even invaded some parts, today known as France. On January 2, 1942, the Spanish forces of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile laid siege to the walled Granada for 4 months till Emir Muhammad XII of Granada agrees to surrender. Fall of Granada ended the Muslim existance in the Iberian Peninsula.
According to the legend, he hides the treasury of the empire under a olive tree before surrender, around the castle of Elhambra. For centuries, many treasure hunters as well as his successors kept coming to Granada to search for the treasure. Thats why there are so many caves around the ELHAMBRA Palace now. Nowadays, poor families reside in those caves despite of government restrictions due to not being taxed.
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