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WHILE the eastern branch of the 110s]cm empire was reach-
ing its golden day, the far-western branch in Spain was
enjoying a period of corresponding splendour. It was a
time of even greater importance to us, for it was chiefly from
Moslem Spain that Arab culture advanced to interpenetrate
the Christian culture of the early 11iddle Ages to produce
the civilization which we inherited. The climax of this
western Moslem civilization came between the ninth and
eleventh centuries. But before we can examine it, we must
~J 1!:?,/4 0turn back in our story to the year t50- 6~~-.
. ~ : ; --; It was in 750, as we have noted, that the Umayyad L ::: ~
iN'X}J rlynasty in Damascus was overthrown by the Abbasid f_~
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(?i}. 11I Abbas1ds to the caliphate was s1gnabzed by a ruthfcss ~
JI , ~/xtcrmination of every memb~r of the dcfeat~d ho_u~e on _ ~
a--
9'/( IJ.. ~family_; and as we ~ave also see_n, tl!c accession of lJ}~t,:;!f\7J/)

j /,/':~ whom the victors could lay their hands. b-,1 ~_y._,;?Y ?ll:'E
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Among the ver few_,~ho escaped was a youth of twenty.
b -al- ahman, a stnk1ng young man, tall, lean, with
~ ~ . rp, aquilin~ features and red hair - a you!h of exceptional cJ i;. •
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rve and ab1hty. It was he who ma~e his way to Spain, . t;.._
fought his _w ay to m:i-5tery, an_d kept 1~ power there the _,,,,;~
yyad d nast which ~as wipe~ out 1n the east. v [✓..r; . ',,A>-c_;:;.
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T e story of his escape 1s dramatic. e was m a Bedouin _ '-1/.

camp on the left bank of the Euphrates River one d J

lvef-1 when orsemen carrying the black standards of the Abbas~~ 1

" . - • / 11 sudde y appeared. With his thirteen-year-old broth
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i,,, ' . we.A Abd- I-Rahman das e
h d into
· thc nver.
. The yo er,
~ J ). brot er, evidently a poor swimmer, became fright:nger
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