The bishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada, wrote “Historia Arabum” in the 13th century. The book is one of the earliest accounts of Arabic history written by a Western author. It was translated from the original Latin into Arabic by Aymenn Al-Tamimi, a nonresident fellow at the New Lines Institute and a Ph.D. student at the University of Swansea in Wales. In this podcast, he joins New Lines Magazine's Lydia Wilson to discuss why he decided to take on such a difficult translation, what the text says about Christian-Muslim relations in medieval Spain and why it remains relevant today. Produced by Joshua Martin
The Lede