The army of Al-ardemelis encamped before Barbastro and besieged it. Yusuf Ibn Suleyman Ibn Hud [at that time king of Saragossa], instead of hastening, as he ought to have done, to the relief of the city, left the inhabitants to defend themselves as they best could; and the consequence was that the enemy got possession of it, as we will presently relate. The Christians besieged it for forty consecutive days without gaining any advantage, until, having received intelligence that the garrison were divided and had quarreled among themselves, owing to the scarcity of provisions, they pressed their attacks with increased vigor, and succeeded in introducing 5,000 of their best men at arms into the suburbs. The Muslims were astounded, and betook themselves to the inner city, where they fortified themselves. Great battles then ensued between the two hosts, in which no less than 500 Franks fell. At last it happened that the subterranean aqueduct, by means of which the city was supplied with water from the river, fell out of repair; several large stones having fallen into and choked the course, the progress of the water was arrested, and the supply cut off from the river. Upon which the inhabitants of Barbastro, despairing of their lives, hastened to the camp of the enemy, and bought security for their persons and property at the price of certain sums of money, and a number of slaves, which they immediately delivered into the conqueror’s hands. No sooner, however, had the Christian king received the money and other articles stipulated in the convention, than he violated it; and, falling on the poor inhabitants, slaughtered the whole of them, with the exception of the kayed Ibnu-ttawil, and the qadi Ibn ’Isa, who, with a few more of the principal inhabitants of the place, contrived to escape from the general massacre. The spoil made by the Christians on this occasion, in money, furniture, and apparel, exceeds all computation, since we are assured that the share of one of their chiefs only, who was the general of the cavalry, amounted to about 1,500 young maidens, besides 500 loads of merchandise, dresses, ornaments, and every description of property, the whole of which he carried to his stronghold. The number of Muslims who perished or were made captives on this occasion amounted to 100,000 souls; although other [reports] reduce that number to about one half….

The reason which induced the Christian king to order the massacre of the inhabitants was this. They say that when he entered Barbastro and saw the numbers of the population, fear lodged in his heart, and he became apprehensive lest the Muslims of the neighboring districts should come to their assistance, and help them to regain possession of their city. He therefore decided on exterminating them all, if he could, and ordered a general slaughter; which lasted until upwards of 6,000 Muslims fell by the swords of the Christians. At last the king ordered the massacre to cease, and commanded that such of the inhabitants as remained should be spared, and allowed to quit the city. When the order was made public, the rush of the people to the gate [of the city] was such that a considerable number of them lost their lives by suffocation. Others were wiser and let themselves down from the walls by means of ropes; all, however, ran to the river in order to quench their thirst. About 700 of the principal inhabitants of the place, fearing for their lives, waited until their fate should be known. When the massacre had ceased, and the Christians had taken as many captives as they wanted, and the remainder had either fled through the gates, or let themselves down from the walls, or perished in the pressure, it was announced by the public crier that the slaughter had ended, and that every citizen might return in safety to his dwelling; they then left their place of concealment and hastened home to their families. No sooner, however, had they arrived there, than, by the command of their king, the Franks (may the curses of God fall upon their heads!) summoned them out of their houses, and led them all into captivity with their wives and children. May the Almighty save us from similar calamity!…

We will put an end to this afflicting and heart-rending narrative by recording an anecdote which will of itself convey a sufficient idea of the manifold sufferings of the Muslims on this occasion. Some time after this catastrophe, a Jewish merchant went to Barbastro for the purpose of redeeming the daughter of one of the principal [Muslim] inhabitants, who had escaped from the massacre. At the division of the spoil, the maiden had fallen to the lot of a [Christian] count, whom the Jew well knew, one of those left in charge of the city [after the king’s departure]. The Jew went to the count’s residence, and, causing himself to be announced by the servants, was admitted into his presence. He there found the Christian occupying the part of the house where its late Muslim proprietor usually sat, reclining on his very couch, and clothed in his most valuable robes. The room, however, with its carpets, cushions, and hangings, was in the same state as when its owner left it on the fatal day; and nothing had been changed or touched of its [Moorish] paintings and ornaments. His female slaves, with their hair tied, were all standing by his bedside, ready to obey his will.

“The count,” said the Jew, “welcomed me, and inquired the object of my visit; which I told him plainly and without disguise, pointing to the many maidens who were in the room, and in whose number was the one I came to redeem. The count smiled, and said to me, in the language of his nation, ‘Be quick, then, and if the girl you seek is among these, point her out to me; if not, you may go to my castle, where you will find many more among my prisoners and captives; look for the person you mean—we will then come to terms.’

“I replied, ‘I need not repair to your castle. The person in search of whom I have come is among yonder maidens; if you consent to part with her, I am ready to meet your demands.’

“‘And what have you brought to tempt me?’ said the count.

“‘I have brought you fine gold in great quantity, and costly and new merchandise,’ was my answer.

“‘And no doubt you flatter yourself that you have brought things to tempt me, and which I do not possess already. O Bahjah!’ said he, addressing one of his female slaves, ‘take some of your fellow servants with you, and bring here the large chest, so that I may show him some of my own property.’

“The chest was brought into the room, and Bahjah proceeded to take out, first, a bag containing 10,000 gold dinars [that is, coins]; next, several bags full of dirhems [that is, another kind of coin]; lastly, many trays covered with gold ornaments, and jewels in such profusion, that, when displayed before the Christian, there were enough to cover him completely and conceal him [from my view]. The count then said to Bajah, ‘Bring yonder wardrobe closer,’ which she did, taking out such a profusion of costly silken and cotton robes, as well as gold and silver brocades, of every color and pattern, that I was actually bewildered, and say plainly that I had brought nothing with me to be compared with the least valuable of the articles exhibited before me. But what was my astonishment when the Christian told me that what I saw was but a small portion of the treasures which he possessed, and that he had so many other precious articles of all sorts, that nothing could be produced which was either new or desirable to him.

“He then swore, by his God, that had he possessed none of the valuable objects [exhibited] before me, and had I come for the express purpose of offering them to him as a ransom for the fair captive, he would still not part with her; and he added, ‘This maiden is the daughter of the late owner of this house, who, if I am rightly informed, was a man of rank and influence among his fellow citizens; and for this reason I intend to keep her in my service, as the people of her nation were accustomed to do with our women, whenever they fell into their hands, at the time that they were all-powerful in this country. Now that the scales are turned, and that we have the superiority over them, we do as they did; nay, we do still more.

“‘Do you see yonder that youthful and delicate maiden over there (pointing to one who stood in a corner of the room with a lute in her hand)? She is actually trembling from fear of my anger. Take your lute,’ he said to her in his barbarous jargon, ‘and sing to this visitor of ours in your plaintive strain.’ The maid took the lute, as she was commanded, and sat down to tune it; and I saw the tears rolling down her fair cheeks; but, with the Christian casting upon her a look of anger, she attempted to sing some verses which I did not understand any more than her Christian master did; although, strange to say, he kept drinking drafts of liquor he had before him, and giving signs of mirth [as if he understood the meaning of them].

“At last, seeing that I could not gain my object, I took leave of the count, and went elsewhere [about the city] to dispose of my goods, where I saw in the hands of the commonest Christians such amount of plunder and captives as left me completely bewildered.”

About the end of Jumada, the first of the ensuing year, the news came to Cordoba that Barbastro had been retaken by the Muslims. This happened thus: Ahmed Al-muktadir Ibn Hud, through whose criminal negligence that city had been lost (since, in order to revenge himself upon the inhabitants who had gone over to his brother, he had allowed them to become the prey of the Christians), wishing to silence those who spoke ill of him, to wash out the indelible spot cast upon his character, and to atone for a sin which nothing short of the immense forgiveness of God can obliterate, marched to Barbastro at the head of his own troops and the reinforcements which his ally ’Abbad had sent him. Having there attacked the unbelievers, Ahmed displayed so much courage and performed such feats of arms, that even the coward [in his army] hesitated, and felt an inclination to behave well. (May God pour his favor on the brave!) The Muslims and the unbelievers fought with renewed fury, until, at last, God was pleased to grant the victory to the former, and to disperse their enemies, who turned their backs in confusion, and ran tumultuously towards the city gates, followed by the Muslims, who entered along with them, and slaughtered the whole of the garrison with the exception of a few, who fled the field of battle [in another direction], of a few children whom compassion saved from death, and of those among their principal men who redeemed themselves by the payment of heavy ransoms. All the rest were either put to death or made slaves, together with their wives and children.

In this manner was the city of Barbastro restored to the Muslims by the will of the creator of all things, with the loss of about fifty of the bravest Muslims only, who fell martyrs to the faith, and whose names God immediately wrote down, to give them entrance into Paradise. The loss of the unbelievers was very considerable, since it amounted to 1,000 horsemen and 500 foot. The city was purified from the filth of idolatry, and cleansed from the stains of infidelity and polytheism.

P. de Gayangos, The History of teh Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain (London: The Oriental Translation Fund, 1843), vol. II, pp. 265-70; revised.