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grave
where 
you put someone 
under the ground 
when they are 
dead
kingdom
a 
country where a 
king is the ruler
king
the most 
important man in 
a country
After that I went back to Tangier and visited my mother’s 
grave
. I was ill for three months, but then I heard my 
friends talk about trouble in the 
Kingdom
of Granada – 
Al-Andalus. ‘
King
Alfonso of Castile is going to fight our 
brothers there,’ they said. ‘We must help them.’
Soon after that, we sailed to the Kingdom of Granada. 
But King Alfonso died of the plague before we arrived, 
and we didn’t need to fight. So I stayed and visited all the 
interesting places in that country.
Now I must tell you a story about my time there. One 
day, I was on the coast road to Malaga when I met twelve 
soldiers on horses. They asked me to journey with them 
because the road to Malaga was dangerous. There were 
enemy ships near the coast. I wanted to go with them, but 
in the end I stayed behind and travelled with my friends.
Later, on the road to Malaga, we found a dead horse in 
our way. It was one of the twelve soldiers’ horses, and I
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soon learnt their story. Those soldiers were now in the 
hands of dangerous enemy sailors, but I was free. I thanked 
God for that, and I prayed for all of our brothers.
Then I journeyed to the famous city of Granada. In one 
of the beautiful gardens there I met some writers. They 
were interested in my traveller’s stories and one young 
man, Ibn Juzayy, listened carefully and began to write 
about my long journey. I didn’t know it at the time, but Ibn 
Juzayy was later a very important friend to me.
Soon after that, I left the Kingdom of Granada and sailed 
back to Morocco.
‘And this time you stayed at home in our country! Is that 
right, Uncle?’ I said.
‘Well, no,’ he smiled. ‘I didn’t. There was one more 
country to visit – a place of hot deserts and dangerous 
snakes. Come back to hear about that tomorrow morning, 
Ahmed.’
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