Editing Musa ibn Nusayr (section)

==In legend==

Less than 200 years after his death, Musa ibn Nusayr became the subject of fantastic legends. These tales were first recorded in the late 9th or early 10th century by [[ibn al-Faqih]], who wrote that Musa was ordered by the caliph to investigate reports of a strange city called al-Baht.<ref>[[Ibn al-Faqih|Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadānī]], pp. 108–112 of French translation.</ref> Musa marched from [[Qayrawan]] to the deserts of Spain and came upon a city that was surrounded by walls with no entrance. Those who attempted to look over the wall became entranced and jumped, laughing deliriously. Musa then proceeded to a nearby lake, which contained copper jars. When opened, a genie emerged from each one.

A more extensive version of the same legend is recorded in "The City of Brass," a tale in ''[[One Thousand and One Nights]]'', in which Musa encounters many other marvels, such as a palace filled with jewels, whose only human occupant was the embalmed corpse of a beautiful woman, guarded by two robot warriors.<ref>The tale of "The City of Brass", in [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]]'s edition vol. 6, pp. 86–121.</ref>

The 17th-century historian [[:fr:Ibn Abi Dinar|Ibn Abi Dinar]] used Musa's decline in fortune as an object lesson in the vagaries of human existence, with some exaggerations: "Musa, who had conquered half the inhabited world, who had acquired so many riches, died in poverty, begging alms from passers-by, after having been abandoned by the last of his servants. Overcome by shame and misery, he wished for death, and God gave it to him. I only mention the details of Musa's death to give my contemporaries, who are poorly read, a striking example of the vicissitudes of human life."<ref>[[:fr:Ibn Abi Dinar|Ibn Abi Dinar]], pp. 60–61 of French translation.</ref>

Probably the most extensive work to be inspired by the life of Musa is a section of the anonymous ''[[Al-Imama wa al-Siyasa|Kitāb al-imāma w'as-siyāsa]]'', which contains a lengthy description of his deeds accompanied by many supposed speeches and sayings. Unlike many other authors, such as [[Ibn Abd-el-Hakem|Ibn Abd al-Hakam]], the work is entirely favourable to Musa.<ref>It has been suggested that this life of Musa originated with an Egyptian descendant of his son Marwan, in the 2nd half of the 9th century: M. Makki, "Egipto y los orígenes de la historiografía árabe-española", ''Revista del Instituto Egipcio de Estudios Islámicos en Madrid'', v. 5, 157–248 (1957).</ref>