THE ALHAMBRA 31 



be well-founded, for when the Alhambra is referred 

 to as existing in earlier times, it is undoubtedly 

 the Alcazaba that is meant. To the same hands 

 may be safely attributed the great outer wall of 

 the Alhambra which girdles palace and fortress, 

 following the inequalities of the hill's contour. 

 Al Ahmar has left his device, Wa ha ghalib ila 

 Allah (There is no conqueror but God), in many 

 parts of the building. These words were uttered 

 by him in mournful deprecation of the acclama- 

 tions of his subjects on his return from assisting 

 the Christians in the Conquest of Seville. During 

 the two and a half centuries of the Nasrite rule, 

 the palace underwent many radical transforma- 

 tions and renovations, so that it is difficult to 

 distinguish between the works of the various 

 sultans. Ford infers, rightly as it seems to us, 

 from the frequent repetition of their names upon 

 the walls, that Yusuf I. and Mohammed V. had 

 the largest share in the embellishment and 

 restoration of the edifice. Since the Reconquest 

 many changes and additions have been made 

 notably the Palace of Charles V., to which detailed 

 reference will be made later. 



The summit of the Alhambra hill was probably 

 peopled in Al Ahmar's time, and it continued to 

 be so during the reigns of his successors. The 

 population thus dwelling at the foot of the throne 

 was mainly composed, in later times at least, of 



