Abstract
The sources for the history of Islamic Spain, or Al-Andalus as the Muslims called it, are incomparably richer than those available for the preceding Roman and Visigothic periods. Although much that once existed has now been lost, their bulk alone is impressive. Even more immediately striking to the historian accustomed to the alusive brevity of Latin annals is their wealth of incidental detail, such as information about the hair and eye colours of the rulers. Such minutiae of description, allied to confident assessments of character and a wealth of anecdote appear to take us more profoundly into the heart of this society and into the minds of some at least of its citizens than is possible for earlier periods. Not since the demise of classical historiography in the late Roman Empire do literary historical sources seem to offer so much, and in themselves compensate for the lack of most other forms of evidence.
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