tall, dark, and slim, he would personally lead his troops into battle. He enjoyed both wine and women in quantity, cultivated his talents as a poet and orator, and promoted learning and high culture. Cunning and shrewd, he did not hesitate to unleash his violent fury to intimidate his subjects; his moves were calculated and he was determined to strengthen the kingdom, stopping at nothing to do so. This did little, however, to endear him to the religious elite, who preferred the pious near-asceticism of his father

Al-Hakam I was the second