Muslim forces crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, conquered Spain, and in a few years
crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into France. In 732, the Franks dramatically defeated
Muslim forces at the Battle of Poitiers. The defeat stopped the Muslim advance into
Europe. This account comes from an anonymous Arab chronicler.
Tours, 732 A.D.
... [T]he Moslems ... laid waste the country and took captives without number. And that army went through all
places like a desolating storm.
... All the nations of the Franks trembled at that terrible army, and they betook them to their kin g Caldus, and told
him of the havoc made by the Moslem horsemen ...
...
Near the river Owar (probably the Loire), the two great hosts of the two languages and the two creeds were set in
array against each other. The hearts of Abderrahman, his captains, and his men were filled with wrath and pride,
and they were the first to begin to fight. The Moslem horsemen dashed fierce and frequent forward against the
battalions of the Franks, who resisted manfully, and many fell dead on either side, until the going do wn of the sun.
Night parted the two armies: but in the grey of the morning the Moslems returned to the battle. Their cavaliers had
soon hewn their way into the center of the Christian host.
But many of the Moslems were fearful for the safety of the spoil which they had stored in their tents, and a false
cry arose in their ranks that some of the enemy were plundering the camp; whereupon several squadrons of the
Moslem horsemen rode off to protect their tents. But it seemed as if they fled and all the host was troubled. And
while Abderrahman strove to check their tumult, and to lead them back to battle, the warriors of the Franks came
around him, and he was pierced through with many spears so that he died. Then all the host fled before the
enemy, and many died in the flight.
from Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
Baghdad under the Abbasids (1000)
This account of Baghdad as the crown of Islamic civilization is told by Yakut, an 11th-century geographer.
The city of Bagdad formed two vast semi-circles on the right and left banks of the Tigris, twelve miles in diameter.
The numerous suburbs, covered with parks, gardens, villas and beautiful promenades, and plentifully supplied
with rich bazaars, and finely built mosques and baths, stretched for a considerable distance on both sides of the
river.
In the days of its prosperity the population of Bagdad and its suburbs amounted to over two millions! The palace
of the Kalif stood in the midst of a vast park ... which beside a menagerie and aviary comprised an inclosure for
wild animals reserved for the chase. The palace grounds were laid out with gardens, and adorned with exquisite
taste with plants, flowers, and trees, reservoirs and fountains, surrounded by sculptured figures ... Immense
streets, none less than forty cubits wide, traversed the city from one end to the other, dividing it into blocks or
quarters, each under the control of an overseer or supervisor, who looked after the cleanliness, sanitation and the
comfort of the inhabitants