Books of Spells or Sacred Revelations?

Abstract

After nightfall, four men are walking with great stealth through the Moorish silk bazaar in Granada towards the gate of Jelices, from which point they can observe the construction works for the new cathedral. No one works in the silk markets at night, and all is quiet except for the voices of the cathedral guards. The old minaret of the mosque rises before them, no longer needed since the magnificent new bell tower has been built. It is half-way through demolition, stone by stone, from the top downwards so that its old ashlars can be reused, and to avoid damaging the flooring of the cathedral. The men scrutinize the tower carefully, attentive to the conversations and laughter drifting towards them from the guards in the central part of the building. One of the four is holding a casket hidden under his cloak, and, while his three companions create a disturbance to distract the guards at the other end of the cathedral, the man with the casket enters the tower through the old minaret and climbs a narrow inner staircase, finally emerging at the top, from where he can see the Alhambra and all of the city lying beneath him in the darkness. ‘Allah is great!’ he whispers, searching hurriedly in hope of finding a stone loosened by the demolition. He is in luck, and hurriedly removes the stone and mortar, setting the casket in the empty hollow before replacing the stone carefully and descending the stairs to retrace his steps through the silk bazaar and calm the feigned dispute his friends are embroiled in.