Spring of Cordoba

165 pages The novelist and Moroccan writer, Hassan Aourid, used the Islamic era in Al-Andalus as a means to question many issues of politics, court affairs, changes in rule, and religious coexistence, and presents advice from its golden age, in his novel recently published, Rebi'a Qurtuba. The novel published by Dar "Al-Markaz Al-Thaqafi Al-Arabi" in which Aourid (55 years old) chose to return to the golden period in Al-Andalus during the reign of Caliph Al-Hakam Al-Mustansir Billah (915–976 AD), the second Caliph of Al-Andalus after his father Abd al-Rahman al-Nasir li-Din Allah, who declared the caliphate in Al-Andalus in 316 AH (922 AD). In a simple narrative structure based on direct memory, the narrative begins from the state of Caliph Al-Mustansir Billah on his deathbed, where he wants to reveal everything. "Soon I will meet God, and I should testify about myself, and this testimony will be an expiation for me," thus the Caliph addresses the Berber boy "Ziri," whom he has entrusted with a special task: to transmit his testimony, informing him that "there is only one matter left, which is that Al-Andalus turns into an idea, and that is why I wanted you to record this talk."