Note 23 — Chapter II · THE ALHAMBRA (MAY-NOVEMBER 1831)

Mohammed I. (Ibn-al-Ahmar), 1238-71, is said to have begun the Alhambra in 1248. When he returned from the surrender of Seville, his subjects saluted him by the title galib or conqueror. He replied “Le galib ile Allah” (“There is no conqueror but God”). The words are everywhere introduced in the building as the founder’s motto. El Rey chico was the name given to Abu Abdullah (corrupted by the Spaniards into Boabdila), the last Moorish King of Granada.