Tariq ibn Ziyad (d. 720) was a Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigoth Spain in 711. He was initially the deputy of Musa ibn Nusair in North Africa, and was sent by his superior to Spain in order to intervene at the request of the heirs of the Visigothic King Witiza, in the Visigothic civil war.

On April 30, 711 the armies of Tariq landed at Gibraltar (the name Gibraltar is derived from the Arabic name Jabal Tariq, which means mountain of Tariq). Upon landing, Tariq famously ordered all the ships to be burnt and issued the following proclamation:

Brothers in Islam! We now have the enemy in front of us and the deep sea behind us. We cannot return to our homes, because we have burnt our boats. We shall now either defeat the enemy and win or die a coward's death by drowning in the sea. Who will follow me?

The Moor armies swept through Spain and won a decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigoth king, Roderic was defeated and killed on July 19th at the Battle of Guadalete. Afterwards, Tariq was made governor of Spain for a while, but he eventually returned to Morocco.

Link

• Tarik's Address to His Soldiers, 711 CE, from The Breath of Perfumes (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/711Tarik1.html)