Bread and the secret musk of books

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

1. The poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938), one of most important literary figures of the Indian subcontinent, wrote a series of poems in Urdu on the subject of Al Andalus. “The Mosque of Cordoba” is considered one of his best-known works.

2. Extract from the “Note” to my poetry collection about al-Andalus, Baker of Tarifa (Hashmi 2010, n.p.).

3. From “Soul in Mezquita, Antiqua: (Cordoba 2003)” (Hashmi 2010, 54).

4. From “Note” in Baker of Tarifa (Hashmi 2010, n.p.).

5. The Nasrid prince Abu Abdullah (1460? –1533) – known in the west as “Boabdil”, “El Zygoby” or “Rey El Chico” – was the last emperor of Muslim Spain.

6. From my unfinished essay “Morayma: The Last Empress of Al Andalus”.

7. From “A Scribe Is Visited by a Jinni in a Sugar Cane Field” (Hashmi 2010, 9).

8. From “The Fire Did not Cool for the People of Abraham” (Hashmi 2010, 41).