The Translation in Andalus during the Caliphate and Tawa’if Period

The state of Andalus was the new beginning point for translation from and to Arabic. The Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad contributed greatly in elevating the cultural level in Andalus by supporting it with scientists, arts and books especially in the field of translation and writing by cultural continuity between the two civilizations of Cordoba and Baghdad where many people in Andalus became students under known genius masters in Kufa, Baghdad and Basrah and other cities in Iraq. The transferring of Iraqi civilization to Andalus was by virtue of Prince Abdul Rahman II (The Middle). The Andalus historian Ahmad al-Razi insists that the people of Andalus were honoring and respecting anyone comes from Baghdad with his knowledge and the elements of Iraqi civilization whether in Art, literature, social traditions, or cultural inclinations; all those participated in creating a new and fascinating civilization in Andalus, and thus, the Masjid Ja’mi’ in Cordoba – which contains one of the greatest academy in the world – began to compete with the Bayt al-Hikma (House of Wisdom) in Baghdad. A lot of famous characters were graduated and served the Islamis and Arabic culture, and many scientists in Andalus met well-known masters and cultured of the Bayt al-Hikma of Baghdad in Baghdad and returned again to Andalus holding the Baghdad culture, and after a short time Toledo (Tulaitulah) became a competitor to Baghdad in translation. This prosperity and flourishing lasted for more than a century and many Arabic sources and books – in philosophy, medicine and mathematics – were translated. The translation became so famous in Andalus and many characters became specialized in translation from Arabic to Latin like Sulayman bin Yousif, Giovanni di Caboa and others. In spite of absence of specialized lexicons and dictionaries, the translators in that time were skillful enough to overcome such problems through collaboration between them.