"If you are a son of this Maghrib of ours and wish for success, then head for the land of the east! Forsake your homeland in pursuit of knowledge ... The door to the east lies open: O you who strive after learning, enter it with a glad greeting! Seize the chance of freedom from the cares of the world before family and children ensnare you, before the day comes when you gnash your teeth in regret for the time that is gone..."

Ibn Jubayr, Valencia Sec. XII