The romance on the construction of the Alhambra has preserved the character
of an Arabic legend which dates from before the prophet.[9] There is also a
romance on the conquest of Spain, attributed to an Arab writer, the same
man whom Cervantes somewhat later feigned to present as the author of Don
Quixote, the Moor, Cid Hamet ben Engels.[10]

[9] R. Basset. D'Alhambra et le Chateau de Khanumag: Revue des traditions
populaires. Fairier, 1871, p. 459-465.

[10] Histoire des Conquêtes d'Espagne par les Mores. Par Ali Aven Sufran.
Paris, 1720.

It is another style of writing, less seductive, perhaps, than that of the
Moorish romances, in spite of their lack of vivacity and their bad taste.
But why mark this as the expression of the Mussulman sentiment under
Christian domination? Conquered by the Castilians, the Aragons, and the
Portuguese, the Moors had lost the use of Arabic, but they had preserved
the exterior sign-writing, just as their new converts retained their usages
and their national costumes. We possess a complete literature composed in
Spanish, but written in Arabic characters. They called it by the name of
_Aljaniado_. Its chief characteristic is that it treats of the
principal legends of the Mussulmans; those of Solomon and Moses, of Jesus;
the birth, childhood, and the marriage of Mohammed; Temins ed Daria, the
war of the king El Mohallal, the miracle of the moon, the ascension of
Mohammed to heaven, the conversion of Omar, the battle of Yarmouk, the
golden castle, the marvels that God showed to Abraham, Ali and the forty
young girls, the anti-Christ and the day of judgment[1] etc.; the legend of
Joseph, son of Jacob; that of Alexander the Great,[2] to which could be
added the story of the princess Zoraida,[3] without speaking of the pious