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Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada by Washington Irving
page 27 of 552 (04%)
Though Muley Abul Hassan was at peace in his external relations,
a civil war raged in his harem, which it is proper to notice, as it had
a fatal effect upon the fortunes of the kingdom. Though cruel by
nature, he was uxorious and somewhat prone to be managed by his
wives. Early in life he had married his kinswoman, Ayxa (or Ayesha),
daughter of his great-uncle, the sultan Mohammed VII., surnamed El
Hayzari, or the Left-handed. She was a woman of almost masculine
spirit and energy, and of such immaculate and inaccessible virtue
that she was generally called La Horra, or the Chaste. By her he
had a son, Abu Abdallah, or, as he is commonly named by historians,
Boabdil. The court astrologers, according to custom, cast the
horoscope of the infant, but were seized with fear and trembling as
they regarded it. "Allah Akbar! God is great!" exclaimed they; "he
alone controls the fate of empires. It is written in the book of
fate that this child will one day sit upon the throne, but that the
downfall of the kingdom will be accomplished during his reign." From
that time the prince had been regarded with aversion by his father,
and the prediction which hung over him and the persecutions to which
he became subjected procured him the surname of El Zogoybi, or the
Unfortunate. He grew up, however, under the protection of his
valiant-hearted mother, who by the energy of her character long
maintained an undisputed sway in the harem, until, as her youth
passed away and her beauty declined, a formidable rival arose.

In one of the forays of the Moorish chivalry into the Christian
territories they had surprised a frontier fortress commanded by
Sancho Ximenes de Solis, a noble and valiant cavalier, who fell in
bravely defending it. Among the captives was his daughter Isabella,
then almost in her infancy, who was brought to Granada, delicately
raised, and educated in the Moslem faith.* Her Moorish captors gave
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