THE CITY OF THE MOOR 9 



home, made an excursion to the summit of the 

 Rock. He was followed by some among those 

 he had reproached, and quickly despatched by 

 their poniards. His body, naked and mangled, 

 was found at the foot of the Rock, and conveyed 

 to Malaga. No attempt seems to have been made 

 to identify or to punish his murderers. 



The ill-fated Mohammed was succeeded by his 

 brother, Yusuf L, Abu-1-Hejaj. While possessed, 

 of course, of the virtues which seem to have been 

 inherent in the Nasrite dynasty, this prince was 

 exceptional in being an ardent, almost a pas- 

 sionate, lover of peace. He believed, says Don 

 Francisco Pi Margall, that it was more glorious 

 to remedy evils than to attempt perilous enter- 

 prises. Assisted by his able Wizir, Redwan, he 

 revised the laws and purified the administration 

 of justice. He built a magnificent palace at 

 Malaga, and the great aljama or mosque at 

 Granada, of which no trace remains. Abandoning 

 for once his settled policy, he joined the Africans 

 in a war against Castile. He was badly beaten, 

 and was glad to negotiate a truce of ten years. 

 At the end of that time, Alfonso of Castile died, 

 and the Sultan of Granada was stabbed to death 

 by a madman, while at his prayers in the mosque, 

 in the year 1354. 



Mohammed V. was as virtuous and as unfor- 

 tunate as his father. He had reigned but four 



