  This period of stability, discovery, and high culture was disrupted by the invasion of the Almoravids, a fanatical Islamic sect from North Africa, in 1090. After taking control of the petty kingdoms of al-Andalus, in response to the fall of Toledo to the Christian armies of Alphonso VI, Jewish life in Granada and beyond began to deteriorate rapidly. Halevi left Granada in search of a more secure situation and eventually settled in Toledo, where his reputation as both a poet and physician preceded him. He was again received with honor and admiration by the courtier Jews of the city, but he now supported himself as a court physician. Nevertheless, clashes been Muslims and Christians, and distrust of Jews on both sides of the divide, caused Halevi increasing dismay over how fragile Jewish life in Spain had become. His secular poetry reflects these developments in its numerous references to loss, grief, and dislocation. As he puts it in one of his poems,