In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

My son learned an initial version of this rhyme at an Islamic children’s story group in Kharabsheh. The heroic story of the great Muslim general, Tariq b. Ziyad–which I tell in my course on the history of Muslim Spain–inspired me to tinker with the rhyme a little, and here is the result. It is sung to the tune of, “The Grand Old Duke of York.”

Tell your children the story of Tariq b. Ziyad, and then have them march up and down your house singing this song!

The Hero of Andalus

Tariq bin Ziyad,
he had twelve thousand men.
He marched them up to Toledo,
and he marched them down again.

When the cowards fled, they’d fight!
When the heedless slept, they’d pray!
They had himma, they had taqwa
in both the night and day [1]

[1] The last four lines of the poem are inspired by the message that the Visigoths sent to King Roderic when Tariq b. Ziyad’s armies made their initial forays into Andalus: “Help us, O Roderic! There have descended upon us a people of who we are at loss to determine whether they are from those of the world or from those of heaven!” To the Christians, the people of heaven–the monks–lived a life apart from the world dedicated to the worship of God, and the people of of the world–the warriors–lived a life of exploits and glory. They saw in the Muslims something they had never seen before: someone who was a monk by night and a warrior by day.