This book is the sum of six lectures given by Dr. Lévy Provençal, during his visits to Alexandria, where in the first three lectures he dealt with Arab-Andalusian poetry, in its three forms: the poem, the candidate, and the zajal. Then he elaborated on the extent of the influence of Andalusian poetry on European poetry in the Middle Ages, while in the remaining three lectures he spoke about Granada and the Alhambra, and about the cities of Morocco and Andalusia and their civil systems.
Lévy Provençal is a historian, writer, orientalist, and specialist in Islamic sciences. He is French, born and educated in Algeria. He worked in correcting and publishing Arabic manuscripts. He is considered one of the most prominent figures of the Sorbonne. He specialized in the Islamic history of the Maghreb and Andalusia, and spent many years researching, publishing, and writing.