‘It was here that Jabal al-Tariq crossed over to his namesake, Gibraltar, in 711. At Janda Lagoon he went into battle with his army of fourteen thousand men against King Roderick of the Visigoths, who had a greater army of sixty thousand. Jabal al-Tariq turned to his soldiers and said, “Whither can you flee? Behind you lies the sea and before you the foe.”’

There was a pause.

‘Did they defeat the Visigoths? They had no choice but to. Thus began the conquest of Spain. Before you lies the sea, Mr Stanley, which you are not yet ready to cross. Behind you is the woman you left behind. Whither can you flee? Whither can you flee?’

‘I must find her,’ Stanley said determinedly, surprising himself. Whether he spoke aloud or to himself, he wasn’t at all sure.

‘Because you cannot run away so easily from the person you are running away with. You must stick together to complete your mission.’

‘That’s very grand. My mission is what, exactly? Damned if I know any more.’

‘Of course you do. It is to get as far as you can go by land because this is the way to discover that your footprints are tracking ancient, well-trodden ground. Allow me to present myself.’

Stanley opened his eyes to see a very thin, sable-coloured man sitting upright next to him. Wearing a saffron-yellow turban, he had a small white goatee and matching yellow robes. His cheeks were drawn, his skin porous and without sheen; deep wrinkles fanned out in waves from the ridge of his magnificently hooked nose. Stanley saw that his eyes had the distant, almost mystic look of ancient tribes captured in the early days of photography.

‘Zaryab – named after the precious bird with dark plumage that is possessed of the sweetest voice. Banished from Mesopotamia by my music master Isaak when my talent outgrew his. After a long journey I arrived in Cordoba in 821 with a thousand songs stored away that I was required to sing from memory for Caliph Abdur-Rahman II. Was I a happy man? I had lost my wife. I had lost my children. I had lost my country. I was in exile. A thousand tears were stored in my heart that I released into song. It is terrible to lose what is dearest to you, for ever. Of this I need not tell you. Do not be responsible for leaving this woman so callously. You will regret it the whole of your life and, I must warn you, for the infinity of your death.