The Spanish Knight

A Historical Ballad

Wa le ghalib il Allah (God is the only victor)

—Muhamed Ibn-l-Ahmar, founder of the Alhambra Palace

He rode across the star-engulfed Sierra,
Along the peaks of Andalusia;
Beyond El Dorado by every measure,
He hoped to find Andalusian treasure.

The monarchs of Granada were all fled—
Infidel prayers were to God’s ears dead;
Those Moorish halls once built with alc…