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This is an excerpt from An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
(Andalusia, 13th c. - Charles Perry, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website

Qursa (Small Round Flat Loaf) with Dates, One of the Dishes of the People of Ifriqiyya. Take good semolina, knead it, and make thin flatbreads of it, and cook them, but not too long so they lose their tenderness. Then crumble them very finely and put them over a moderate fire, and pour in fresh, odorless oil, and cover it with the oil. Then take good Shaddâkh dates, as much as the crumbs, and there are those who use more Shaddâkh dates than crumbs. After cleaning them of their stones and pellicles, pound them in a mortar until they are like rose jam, and put it in the tinjir [kettle] with boiling oil. Stir it with a spoon, and when it dissolves in the oil, throw in the breadcrumbs little by little, and stir until it is blended and there is no distinction between the crumbs and the dates and they are a single mass, like a paste, then remove it from the fire, and the oil will disappear; leave it a while, then sprinkle it with sufficient cinnamon, spikenard, cloves, ginger, and galingale. Stir it with a spoon until the spices are mixed in, and pour it into a dish. Even out the bread, smooth it out, make a hole in the middle, and fill it with the butter in which it was cooked. Sprinkle it with sugar, spikenard, and cloves. Insert split almonds and fâ nîd, and serve it. According to this recipe it lasts for the space of many days and does not spoil or change.