Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354
Here begins Ibn Battuta's travels p. 43
I left Tangier, my birthplace, on Thursday, 2nd Rajab 725 [June 14, 1325], being at
that time twenty-two years of age [22 lunar years; 21 and 4 months by solar reckoning],
with the intention of making the Pilgrimage to the Holy House [at Mecca] and the Tomb of
the Prophet [at Medina].
I set out alone, finding no companion to cheer the way with friendly intercourse, and
no party of travellers with whom to associate myself. Swayed by an overmastering impulse
within me, and a long-cherished desire to visit those glorious sanctuaries, I resolved to
quit all my friends and tear myself away from my home. As my parents were still alive, it
weighed grievously upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with
sorrow.
On reaching the city of Tilimsan [Tlemsen], whose sultan at that time was Abu Tashifin,
I found there two ambassadors of the Sultan of Tunis, who left the city on the same day
that I arrived. One of the brethren having advised me to accompany them, I consulted the
will of God in this matter, and after a stay of three days in the city to procure all that
I needed, I rode after them with all speed. I overtook them at the town of Miliana, where
we stayed ten days, as both ambassadors fell sick on account of the summer heats. When we
set out again, one of them grew worse, and died after we had stopped for three nights by a
stream four miles from Miliana. I left their party there and pursued my journey, with a
company of merchants from Tunis.
Ibn Battuta travels overland from Algiers to Tunis pp. 43-45.
On reaching al-Jaza'ir [Algiers] we halted outside the town for a few days, until the
former party rejoined us, when we went on together through the Mitija [the fertile plain
behind Algiers] to the mountain of Oaks [Jurjura] and so reached Bijaya [Bougiel.
The commander of Bijaya at this time was the chamberlain Ibn Sayyid an-Nas. Now one of
the Tunisian merchants of our party had died leaving three thousand dinars of gold, which
he had entrusted to a certain man of Algiers to deliver to his heirs at Tunis. Ibn Sayyid
an-Nas came to hear of this and forcibly seized the money. This was the first instance I
witnessed of the tyranny of the agents of the Tunisian government.
At Bijaya I fell ill of a fever, and one of my friends advised me to stay there till I
recovered. But I refused, saying, "If God decrees my death, it shall be on the road
with my face set toward Mecca." "If that is your resolve," he replied,
"sell your ass and your heavy baggage, and I shall lend you what you require. In this
way you will travel light, for we must make haste on our journey, for fear of meeting
roving Arabs on the way." I followed his advice and he did as he had promised--may
God reward him!
On reaching Qusantinah [Constantine] we camped outside the town, but a heavy rain
forced us to leave our tents during the night and take refuge in some houses there. Next
day the governor of the city came to meet us. Seeing my clothes all soiled by the rain he
gave orders that they should be washed at his house, and in place of my old worn headcloth
sent me a headcloth of fine Syrian cloth, in one of the ends of which he had tied two gold
dinars. This was the first alms I received on my journey.
From Qusantinah we reached Bona [Bone] where, after staying in the town for several
days, we left the merchants of our party on account of the dangers of the road, while we
pursued our journey with the utmost speed. I was again attacked by fever, so I tied myself
in the saddle with a turban-cloth in case I should fall by reason of my weakness. So great
was my fear that I could not dismount until we arrived at Tunis.
Ibn Battuta and his party arrive at Tunis pp. 43-46.
The population of the city came out to meet the members of our party, and on all sides
greetings and question were exchanged, but not a soul greeted me as no one there was known
to me. I was so affected by my loneliness that I could not restrain my tears and wept
bitterly, until one of the pilgrims realized the cause of my distress and coming up to me
greeted me kindly and continued to entertain me with friendly talk until I entered the
city.
The Sultan of Tunis at that time was Abu Yahya, the son of Abu' Zakariya IL, and there
were a number of notable scholars in the town. During my stay the festival of the Breaking
of the Fast fell due, and I joined the company at the Praying-ground. The inhabitants
assembled in large numbers to celebrate the festival, making a brave show and wearing
their richest apparel. The Sultan Abu Yahya arrived on horseback, accompanied by all his
relatives, courtiers, and officers of state walking on foot in a stately procession. After
the recital of the prayer and the conclusion of the Allocution the people returned to
their homes.
Ibn Battuta leaves Tunis with the annual pilgrim caravan
Some time later the pilgrim caravan for the Hijaz was formed, and they nominated me as
their qadi [judge]. We left Tunis early in November [1325], following the coast road
through Susa Sfax, and Qabis, where we stayed for ten days on account of incessant rains.
Thence we set out for Tripoli, accompanied for several stages by a hundred or more
horsemen as well as a detachment of archers, out of respect for whom the Arabs [brigands]
kept their distance.
I had made a contract of marriage at Sfax with the daughter of one of the syndics at
Tunis, and at Tripoli she was conducted to me, but after leaving Tripoli I became involved
in a dispute with her father, which necessitated my separation from her. I then married
the daughter of a student from Fez, and when she was conducted to me I detained the
caravan for a day by entertaining them all at a wedding party.
Arrival at Alexandria pp. 47-50
At length on April 5th (1326) we reached Alexandria. It is a beautiful city, well-built
and fortified with four gates and a magnificent port. Among all the ports in the world I
have seen none to equal it except Kawlam [Quilon] and Calicut in India, the port of the
infidels [Genoese] at Sudaq [Sudak, in the Crimea] in the land of the Turks, and the port
of Zaytun [Canton?] in China, all of which will be described later.
The famous lighthouse, one of the "wonders of the ancient world"
I went to see the lighthouse on this occasion and found one of its faces in ruins. It
is a very high square building, and its door is above the level of the earth. Opposite the
door, and of the same height, is a building from which there is a plank bridge to the
door; if this is removed there is no means of entrance. Inside the door is a place for the
lighthouse-keeper, and within the lighthouse there are many chambers. The breadth of the
passage inside is nine spans and that of the wall ten spans; each of the four sides of the
lighthouse is 140 spans in breadth. It is situated on a high mound and lies three miles
from the city on a long tongue of land which juts out into the sea from close by the city
wall, so that the lighthouse cannot be reached by land except from the city. On my return
to the West in the year 750 [1349] I visited the lighthouse again, and found that it had
fallen into so ruinous a condition that it was not possible to enter it or climb up to the
door.
Al-Malik an-Nasir had started to build a similar lighthouse alongside it but was
prevented by death from completing the work. Another of the marvellous things in this city
is the awe-inspiring marble column [an obelisk] on its outskirts which they call the
Pillar of Columns. It is a single block, skilfully carved, erected on a plinth of square
stones like enormous platforms, and no one knows how it was erected there nor for certain
who erected it.
Two holy men of the city
One of the learned men of Alexandria was the qadi, a master of eloquence, who used to
wear a turban of extraordinary size. Never either in the eastern or the western lands have
I seen a more voluminous headgear.
Another of them was the pious ascetic Burhan ad-Din, whom I met during my stay and
whose hospitality I enjoyed for three days. One day as I entered his room he said to me
"I see that you are fond of travelling through foreign lands." I replied
"Yes, I am " (though I had as yet no thought of going to such distant lands as
India or China). Then he said "You must certainly visit my brother Farid ad-Din in
India, and my brother Rukn ad-Din in Sind, and my brother Burhan ad-Din in China, and when
you find them give them greeting from me." I was amazed at his prediction and the
idea of going to these countries having been cast into my mind, my journeys never ceased
until I had met these three that he named and conveyed his greeting to them.
A visit to a holy man in the country
During my stay at Alexandria I had heard of the pious Shaykh al-Murshidi, who bestowed
gifts miraculously created at his desire. He lived in solitary retreat in a cell in the
country where he was visited by princes and ministers. Parties of men in all ranks of life
used to come to him every day and he would supply them all with food. Each one of them
would desire to eat some flesh or fruit or sweetmeat at his cell, and to each he would
give what he had suggested, though it was frequently out of season. His fame was carried
from mouth to mouth far and wide, and the Sultan too had visited him several times in his
retreat. I set out from Alexandria to seek this shaykh and passing through Damanhur came
to Fawwa [Fua], a beautiful township, close by which, separated from it by a canal, lies
the shaykh's cell. I reached this cell about mid-afternoon, and on saluting the shaykh I
found that he had with him one of the sultan's aides-de-camp, who had encamped with his
troops just outside. The shaykh rose and embraced me, and calling for food invited me to
eat. When the hour of the afternoon prayer arrived he set me in front as prayer-leader,
and did the same on every occasion when we were together at the times of prayer during my
stay. When I wished to sleep he said to me "Go up to the roof of the cell and sleep
there " (this was during the summer heats). I said to the officer "In the name
of God," but he replied [quoting from the Koran] "There is none of us but has an
appointed place." So I mounted to the roof and found there a straw mattress and a
leather mat, a water vessel for ritual ablutions, a jar of water and a drinkingcup, and I
lay down there to sleep.
A dream of travels to come
That night, while I was sleeping on the roof of the cell, I dreamed that I was on the
wing of a great bird which was flying with me towards Mecca, then to Yemen, then eastwards
and thereafter going towards the south, then flying far eastwards and finally landing in a
dark and green country, where it left me. I was astonished at this dream and said to
myself "If the shaykh can interpret my dream for me, he is all that they say he
is." Next morning, after all the other visitors had gone, he called me and when I had
related my dream interpreted it to me saying: "You will make the pilgrimage [to
Mecca] and visit [the Tomb of] the Prophet, and you will travel through Yemen, Iraq, the
country of the Turks, and India. You will stay there for a long time and meet there my
brother Dilshad the Indian, who will rescue you from a danger into which you will
fall." Then he gave me a travelling-provision of small cakes and money, and I bade
him farewell and departed. Never since parting from him have I met on my journeys aught
but good fortune, and his blessings have stood me in good stead.
Ibn Battuta leaves for Cairo via Damietta
We rode from here to Damietta through a number of towns, in each of which we visited
the principal men of religion. Damietta lies on the bank of the Nile, and the people in
the houses next to the river draw water from it in buckets. Many of the houses have steps
leading down to the river. Their sheep and goats are allowed to pasture at liberty day and
night; for this reason the saying goes of Damietta "Its walls are sweetmeats and its
dogs are sheep." Anyone who enters the city may not afterwards leave it except by the
governor's seal. Persons of repute have a seal stamped on a piece of paper so that they
may show it to the gatekeepers; other persons have the seal stamped on their forearms. In
this city there are many seabirds with extremely greasy flesh, and the milk of its
buffaloes is unequalled for sweetness and pleasant taste. The fish called buri is exported
thence to Syria, Anatolia, and Cairo. The present town is of recent construction; the old
city was that destroyed by the Franks in the time of al Malik as as-Salih.
From Damietta I travelled to Fariskur, which is a town on the bank of the Nile, and
halted outside it. Here I was overtaken by a horseman who had been sent after me by the
governor of Damietta. He handed me a number of coins saying to me "The Governor asked
for you, and on being informed about you, he sent you this gift"--may God reward him!
Thence I travelled to Ashmun, a large and ancient town on a canal derived from the Nile.
It possesses a wooden bridge at which all vessels anchor, and in the afternoon the baulks
are lifted and the vessels pass up and down. From here I went to Samannud, whence I
journeyed upstream to Cairo, between a continuous succession of towns and villages. The
traveller on the Nile need take no provision with him because whenever he desires to
descend on the bank he may do so, for ablutions, prayers, provisioning, or any other
purpose. There is an uninterrupted chain of bazaars from Alexandria to Cairo, and from
Cairo to Assuan [Aswan] in Upper Egypt.
Arrival in Cairo pp. 50-55.
I arrived at length at Cairo, mother of cities and seat of Pharaoh the tyrant, mistress
of broad regions and fruitful lands, boundless in multitude of buildings, peerless in
beauty and splendour, the meeting-place of comer and goer, the halting-place of feeble and
mighty, whose throngs surge as the waves of the sea, and can scarce be contained in her
for all her size and capacity. It is said that in Cairo there are twelve thousand
water-carriers who transport water on camels, and thirty thousand hirers of mules and
donkeys, and that on the Nile there are thirty-six thousand boats belonging to the Sultan
and his subjects which sail upstream to Upper Egypt and downstream to Alexandria and
Damietta, laden with goods and profitable merchandise of all kinds.
A pleasure garden
On the bank of the Nile opposite Old Cairo is the place known as The Garden, which is a
pleasure park and promenade, containing many beautiful gardens, for the people of Cairo
are given to pleasure and amusements. I witnessed a fete once in Cairo for the sultan's
recovery from a fractured hand; all the merchants decorated their bazaars and had rich
stuffs, ornaments and silken fabrics hanging in their shops for several days.
Religious institutions
The mosque of 'Amr is highly venerated and widely celebrated. The Friday service is
held in it and the road runs through it from east to west. The madrasas [college mosques]
of Cairo cannot be counted for multitude. As for the Maristan [hospital], which lies
"between the two castles" near the mausoleum of Sultan Qala'un, no description
is adequate to its beauties. It contains an innumerable quantity of appliances and
medicaments, and its daily revenue is put as high as a thousand dinars.
There are a large number of religious establishments ["convents "] which they
call khanqahs, and the nobles vie with one another in building them. Each of these is set
apart for a separate school of darwishes, mostly Persians, who are men of good education
and adepts in the mystical doctrines. Each has a superior and a doorkeeper and their
affairs are admirably organized. They have many special customs one of which has to do
with their food. The steward of the house comes in the morning to the darwishes, each of
whom indicates what food he desires, and when they assemble for meals, each person is
given his bread and soup in a separate dish, none sharing with another. They eat twice a
day. They are each given winter clothes and summer clothes, and a monthly allowance of
from twenty to thirty dirhams. Every Thursday night they receive sugar cakes, soap to wash
their clothes, the price of a bath, and oil for their lamps. These men are celibate; the
married men have separate convents.
At Cairo too is the great cemetery of al-Qarafa, which is a place of peculiar sanctity
and contains the graves of innumerable scholars and pious believers. In the Qarafa the
people build beautiful pavilions surrounded by walls, so that they look like houses. They
also build chambers and hire Koran-readers who recite night and day in agreeable voices.
Some of them build religious houses and madrasas beside the mausoleums and on Thursday
nights they go out to spend the night there with their children and women-folk, and make a
circuit of the famous tombs. They go out to spend the night there also on the "Night
of midSha'ban," and the market-people take out all kinds of eatables. Among the many
celebrated sanctuaries [in the city] is the holy shrine where there reposes the head of
alHusayn. Beside it is a vast monastery of striking construction, on the doors of which
there are silver rings and plates of the same metal.
The great river Nile
The Egyptian Nile surpasses all rivers of the earth in sweetness of taste, length of
course, and utility. No other river in the world can show such a continuous series of
towns and villages along its banks, or a basin so intensely cultivated. Its course is from
South to North, contrary to all the other great rivers. One extraordinary thing about it
is that it begins to rise in the extreme hot weather at the time when rivers generally
diminish and dry up, and begins to subside just when rivers begin to increase and
overflow. The river Indus resembles it in this feature. The Nile is one of the five great
rivers of the world, which are the Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, Syr Darya and Amu Darya; five
other rivers resemble these, the Indus, which is called Panj Ab [i.e. Five Rivers], the
river of India which is called Gang [Ganges]--it is to it that the Hindus go on
pilgrimage, and when they burn their dead they throw the ashes into it, and they say that
it comes from Paradise--the river Jun [Jumna or perhaps Brahmaputra] in India, the river
Itil [Volga] in the Qipchaq steppes, on the banks of which is the city of Sara, and the
river Saru [Hoang-Ho] in the land of Cathay. All these will be mentioned in their proper
places, if God will. Some distance below Cairo the Nile divides into three streams, none
of which can be crossed except by boat, winter or summer. The inhabitants of every
township have canals led off the Nile; these are filled when the river is in flood and
carry the water over the fields.
Upriver
From Cairo I travelled into Upper Egypt, with the intention of crossing to the Hijaz.
On the first night I stayed at the monastery of Dayr at-Tin, which was built to house
certain illustrious relics--a fragment of the Prophet's wooden basin and the pencil with
which he used to apply kohl, the awl he used for sewing his sandals, and the Koran
belonging to the Caliph Ali written in his own hand. These were bought, it is said, for a
hundred thousand dirhams by the builder of the monastery, who also established funds to
supply food to all comers and to maintain the guardians of the sacred relics.
Thence my way lay through a number of towns and villages to Munyat Ibn Khasib [Minia],
a large town which is built on the bank of the Nile, and most emphatically excels all the
other towns of Upper Egypt. I went on through Manfalut, Asyut, Ikhmim, where there is a
berba with sculptures and inscriptions which no one can now read-another of these berbas
there was pulled down and its stones used to build a madrasa--Qina, Qus, where the
governor of Upper Egypt resides, Luxor, a pretty little town containing the tomb of the
pious ascetic Abu'l-Hajjaj, Esna, and thence a day and a night's journey through desert
country to Edfu.
Camels, Hyenas, and Bejas
Here we crossed the Nile and, hiring camels, journeyed with a party of Arabs through a
desert, totally devoid of settlements but quite safe for travelling. One of our halts was
at Humaythira, a place infested with hyenas. All night long we kept driving them away, and
indeed one got at my baggage, tore open one of the sacks, pulled out a bag of dates, and
made off with it. We found the bag next morning, torn to pieces and with most of the
contents eaten. After fifteen days' travelling we reached the town of Aydhab, a large
town, well supplied with milk and fish; dates and grain are imported from Upper Egypt. Its
inhabitants are Bejas. These people are black-skinned; they wrap themselves in yellow
blankets and tie headbands about a fingerbreadth wide round their heads. They do not give
their daughters any share in their inheritance. They live on camels milk and they ride on
Meharis [dromedaries]. One-third of the city belongs to the Sultan of Egypt and two-thirds
to the King of the Bejas, who is called al-Hudrubi. On reaching Aydhab we found that
al-Hudrubi was engaged in warfare with the Turks [i.e. the troops of the Sultan of Egypt],
that he had sunk the ships and that the Turks had fled before him. It was impossible for
us to attempt the sea-crossing [across the Red Sea], so we sold the provisions that we had
made ready for it, and returned to Qus with the Arabs from whom we had hired the camels.
Back downriver to Cairo; from Cairo to Syria and Jerusalem
We sailed thence down the Nile (it was at the flood time) and after an eight days'
journey reached Cairo, where I stayed only one night, and immediately set out for Syria.
This was in the middle of July, 1326. My route lay through Bilbays and as-Salihiya, after
which we entered the sands and halted at a number of stations. At each of these there was
a hostelry which they call a khan, where travellers alight with their beasts. Each khan
has a water wheel supplying a fountain and a shop at which the traveller buys what he
requires for himself and his beast.
Crossing the border into Syria
At the station of Qatya customs-dues are collected from the merchants, and their goods
and baggage are thoroughly examined and searched. There are offices here, with officers,
clerks, and notaries, and the daily revenue is a thousand gold dinars. No one is allowed
to pass into Syria without a passport from Egypt, nor into Egypt without a passport from
Syria, for the protection of the property of the subjects and as a measure of precaution
against spies from Iraq. The responsibility of guarding this road has been entrusted to
the Badawin [Bedouin]. At nightfall they smooth down the sand so that no track is left on
it, then in the morning the governor comes and looks at the sand. If he finds any track on
it he commands the Arabs to bring the person who made it, and they set out in pursuit and
never fail to catch him. He is then brought to the governor, who punishes him as he sees
fit. The governor at the time of my passage treated me as a guest and showed me great
kindness, and allowed all those who were with me to pass. From here we went on to Gaza,
which is the first city of Syria on the side next the Egyptian frontier.
On the road to Jerusalem: Hebron and Bethlehem pp. 55-57
From Gaza I travelled to the city of Abraham [Hebron], the mosque of which is of
elegant, but substantial construction, imposing and lofty, and built of squared stones At
one angle of it there is a stone, one of whose faces measures twenty-seven spans. It is
said that Solomon commanded the jinn to build it. Inside it is the sacred cave containing
the graves of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, opposite which are three graves, which are those
of their wives. I questioned the imam, a man of great piety and learning, on the
authenticity of these graves, and he replied: "All the scholars whom I have met hold
these graves to be the very graves of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their wives. No one
questions this except introducers of false doctrines; it is a tradition which has passed
from father to son for generations and admits of no doubt." This mosque contains also
the grave of Joseph, and somewhat to the east of it lies the tomb of Lot, which is
surmounted by an elegant building. In the neighbourhood is Lot's lake [the Dead Sea],
which is brackish and is said to cover the site of the settlements of Lot's people.
On the way from Hebron to Jerusalem, I visited Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. The
site is covered by a large building; the Christians regard it with intense veneration and
hospitably entertain all who alight at it.
Jerusalem and its holy sites
We then reached Jerusalem (may God ennoble her !), third in excellence after the two
holy shrines of Mecca and Medina and the place whence the Prophet was caught up into
heaven. Its walls were destroyed by the illustrious King Saladin and his Successors, for
fear lest the Christians should seize it and fortify themselves in it. The sacred mosque
is a most beautiful building, and is said to be the largest mosque in the world. Its
length from east to west is put at 752 "royal" cubits and its breadth at 435. On
three sides it has many entrances, but on the south side I know of one only, which is that
by which the imam enters. The entire mosque is an open court and unroofed, except the
mosque al-Aqsa, which has a roof of most excellent workmanship, embellished with gold and
brilliant colours. Some other parts of the mosque are roofed as well. The Dome of the Rock
is a building of extraordinary beauty, solidity, elegance, and singularity of shape. It
stands on an elevation in the centre of the mosque and is reached by a flight of marble
steps. It has four doors. The space round it is also paved with marble, excellently done,
and the interior likewise. Both outside and inside the decoration is so magnificent and
the workmanship so surpassing as to defy description. The greater part is covered with
gold so that the eyes of one who gazes on its beauties are dazzled by its brilliance, now
glowing like a mass of light, now flashing like lightning. In the centre of the Dome is
the blessed rock from which the Prophet ascended to heaven, a great rock projecting about
a man's height, and underneath it there is a cave the size of a small room, also of a
man's height, with steps leading down to it. Encircling the rock are two railings of
excellent workmanship, the one nearer the rock being artistically constructed in iron and
the other of wood.
The Christian holy places
Among the grace-bestowing sanctuaries of Jerusalem is a building, situated on the
farther side of the valley called the valley of Jahannam [Gehenna] to the east of the
town, on a high hill. This building is said to mark the place whence Jesus ascended to
heaven. In the bottom of the same valley is a church venerated by the Christians, who say
that it contains the grave of Mary. In the same place there is another church which the
Christians venerate and to which they come on pilgrimage. This is the church of which they
are falsely persuaded to believe that it contains the grave of Jesus [Church of the Holy
Sepulcher]. All who come on pilgrimage to visit it pay a stipulated tax to the Muslims,
and suffer very unwillingly various humiliations. Thereabouts also is the place of the
cradle of Jesus which is visited in order to obtain blessing.
Ibn Battuta arrives at Damascus pp. 65-73
I entered Damascus on Thursday 9th Ramadan 726 [9th August, 1326], and lodged at the
Malikite college called ash-Sharabishiya. Damascus surpasses all other cities in beauty,
and no description, however full, can do justice to its charms.
The Ummayad Mosque
The Cathedral Mosque, known as the Umayyad Mosque, is the most magnificent mosque in
the world, the finest in construction and noblest in beauty, grace and perfection; it is
matchless and unequalled. The person who undertook its construction was the Caliph Walid I
[AD 705-715]. He applied to the Roman Emperor at Constantinople, ordering him to send
craftsmen to him, and the Emperor sent him twelve thousand of them. The site of the mosque
was a church, and when the Muslims captured Damascus, one of their commanders entered from
one side by the sword and reached as far as the middle of the church, while the other
entered peaceably from the eastern side and reached the middle also. So the Muslims made
the half of the church which they had entered by force into a mosque and the half which
they had entered by peaceful agreement remained as a church. When Walid decided to extend
the mosque over the entire church he asked the Greeks to sell him their church for
whatsoever equivalent they desired, but they refused, so he seized it. The Christians used
to say that whoever destroyed the church would be stricken with madness and they told that
to Walid. But he replied "I shall be the first to be stricken by madness in the
service of God," and seizing an axe, he set to work to knock it down with his own
hands. The Muslims on seeing that followed his example, and God proved false the assertion
of the Christians.
This mosque has four doors. The southern door, called the "Door of Increase,"
is approached by a spacious passage where the dealers in second-hand goods and other
commodities have their shops. Through it lies the way to the [former] Cavalry House, and
on the left as one emerges from it is the coppersmiths' gallery, a large bazaar, one of
the finest in Damascus, extending along the south wall of the mosque. This bazaar occupies
the site of the palace of the Caliph Mu'awiya I, which was called al Khadri [The Green
Palace]; the Abbasids pulled it down and a bazaar took its place.
The eastern door, called the Jayrun door, is the largest of the doors of the mosque. It
also has a large passage, leading out to a large and extensive colonnade which is entered
through a quintuple gateway between six tall columns. Along both sides of this passage are
pillars, supporting circular galleries, where the cloth merchants amongst others have
their shops; above these again are long galleries in which are the shops of the jewellers
and booksellers and makers of admirable glass-ware. In the square adjoining the first door
are the stalls of the principal notaries, in each of which there may be five or six
witnesses in attendance and a person authorized by the qadi to perform
marriage-ceremonies. The other notaries are scattered throughout the city. Near these
stalls is the bazaar of the stationers who sell paper, pens, and ink. In the middle of the
passage there is a large round marble basin, surrounded by a pavilion supported on marble
columns but lacking a roof. In the centre of the basin is a copper pipe which forces out
water under pressure so that it rises into the air more than a man's height. They call it
"The Waterspout" and it is a fine sight. To the right as one comes out of the
Jayrun door, which is called also the "Door of the Hours," is an upper gallery
shaped like a large arch, within which there are small open arches furnished with doors,
to the number of the hours of the day. These doors are painted green on the inside and
yellow on the outside, and as each hour of the day passes the green inner side of the door
is turned to the outside, and vice versa. They say that inside the gallery there is a
person in the room who is responsible for turning them by hand as the hours pass.
The western door is called the "Door of the Post"; the passage outside it
contains the shops of the candlemakers and a gallery for the sale of fruit.
The northern door is called the "Door of the Confectioners "; it too has a
large passageway, and on the right as one leaves it is a khanqah, which has a large basin
of water in the centre and lavatories supplied with running water. At each of the four
doors of the mosque is a building for ritual ablutions, containing about a hundred rooms
abundantly supplied with running water.
A controversial theologian
One of the principal Hanbalite doctors at Damascus was Taqi ad-Din Ibn Taymiya, a man
of great ability and wide learning, but with some kink in his brain. The people of
Damascus idolized him. He used to preach to them from the pulpit, and one day he made some
statement that the other theologians disapproved; they carried the case to the sultan and
in consequence Ibn Taymiya was imprisoned for some years. While he was in prison he wrote
a commentary on the Koran, which he called " The Ocean," in about forty volumes.
Later on his mother presented herself before the sultan and interceded for him, so he was
set at liberty, until he did the same thing again. I was in Damascus at the time and
attended the service which he was conducting one Friday, as he was addressing and
admonishing the people from the pulpit. In the midst of his discourse he said "Verily
God descends to the sky over our world [from Heaven] in the same bodily fashion that I
make this descent," and stepped down one step of the pulpit. A Malikite doctor
present contradicted him and objected to his statement, but the common people rose up
against this doctor and beat him with their hands and their shoes so severely that his
turban fell off and disclosed a silken skull-cap on his head. Inveighing against him for
wearing this, they haled him before the qadi of the Hanbalites, who ordered him to be
imprisoned and afterwards had him beaten. The other doctors objected to this treatment and
carried the matter before the principal amir, who wrote to the sultan about the matter and
at the same time drew up a legal attestation against Ibn Taymiya for various heretical
pronouncements. This deed was sent on to the sultan, who gave orders that Ibn Taymiya
should be imprisoned in the citadel, and there he remained until his death.
The Plague of 1348
One of the celebrated sanctuaries at Damascus is the Mosque of the Footprints
(al-Aqdam), which lies two miles south of the city, alongside the main highway which leads
to the Hijaz, Jerusalem, and Egypt. It is a large mosque, very blessed, richly endowed,
and very highly venerated by the Damascenes. The footprints from which it derives its name
are certain footprints impressed upon a rock there, which are said to be the mark of
Moses' foot. In this mosque there is a small chamber containing a stone with the following
inscription "A certain pious man saw in his sleep the Chosen One [Muhammad], who said
to him 'Here is the grave of my brother Moses.'"
I saw a remarkable instance of the veneration in which the Damascenes hold this mosque
during the great pestilence on my return journey through Damascus, in the latter part of
July 1348. The viceroy Arghun Shah ordered a crier to proclaim through Damascus that all
the people should fast for three days and that no one should cook anything eatable in the
market during the daytime. For most of the people there eat no food but what has been
prepared in the market. So the people fasted for three successive days, the last of which
was a Thursday, then they assembled in the Great Mosque, amirs, sharifs, qadis,
theologians, and all the other classes of the people, until the place was filled to
overflowing, and there they spent the Thursday night in prayers and litanies. After the
dawn prayer next morning they all went out together on foot, holding Korans in their
hands, and the amirs barefooted. The procession was joined by the entire population of the
town, men and women, small and large; the Jews came with their Book of the Law and the
Christians with their Gospel, all of them with their women and children. The whole
concourse, weeping and supplicating and seeking the favour of God through His Books and
His Prophets, made their way to the Mosque of the Footprints, and there they remained in
supplication and invocation until near midday. They then returned to the city and held the
Friday service, and God lightened their affliction; for the number of deaths in a single
day at Damascus did not attain two thousand, while in Cairo and Old Cairo it reached the
figure of twenty-four thousand a day.
The good and pious works of the Damascenes
The variety and expenditure of the religious endowments at Damascus are beyond
computation. There are endowments in aid of persons who cannot undertake the pilgrimage to
Mecca, out of which are paid the expenses of those who go in their stead. There are other
endowments for supplying wedding outfits to girls whose families are unable to provide
them, andothers for the freeing of prisoners. There are endowments for travellers, out of
the revenues of which they are given food, clothing, and the expenses of conveyance to
their countries. Then there are endowments for the improvement and paving of the streets,
because all the lanes in Damascus have pavements on either side, on which the foot
passengers walk, while those who ride use the roadway in the centre.
The story of a slave who broke a valuable dish
Besides these there are endowments for other charitable purposes. One day as I went
along a lane in Damascus I saw a small slave who had dropped a Chinese porcelain dish,
which was broken to bits. A number of people collected round him and one of them said to
him, "Gather up the pieces and take them to the custodian of the endowments for
utensils." He did so, and the man went with him to the custodian, where the slave
showed the broken pieces and received a sum sufficient to buy a similar dish. This is an
excellent institution, for the master of the slave would undoubtedlv have beaten him, or
at least scolded him, for breaking the dish, and the slave would have been heartbroken and
upset at the accident. This benefaction is indeed a mender of hearts--may God richly
reward him whose zeal for good works rose to such heights!
The hospitality and friendship received by Ibn Battuta
The people of Damascus vie with one another in building mosques, religious houses,
colleges and mausoleums. They have a high opinion of the North Africans, and freely
entrust them with the care of their moneys, wives, and children. All strangers amongst
them [i.e., among North Africans like Ibn Battuta] are handsomely treated and care is
taken that they are not forced to any action that might injure their self-respect.
When I came to Damascus a firm friendship sprang up between the Malikite professor Nur
ad-Din Sakhawi and me, and he besought me to breakfast at his house during the nights of
Ramadan. After I had visited him for four nights I had a stroke of fever and absented
myself. He sent in search of me, and although I pleaded my illness in excuse he refused to
accept it. I went back to his house and spent the night there, and when I desired to take
my leave the next morning he would not hear of it, but said to me "Consider my house
as your own or as your father's or brother's." He then had a doctor sent for, and
gave orders that all the medicines and dishes that the doctor prescribed were to be made
for me in his house. I stayed thus with him until the Fast-breaking when I went to the
festival prayers and God healed me of what had befallen me. Meanwhile, all the money I had
for my expenses was exhausted. Nur ad-Din, learning this, hired camels for me and gave me
travelling and other provisions, and money in addition, saying "It will come in for
any serious matter that may land you in difficulties"--may God reward him !
Funeral customs
The Damascenes observe an admirable order in funeral processions. They walk in front of
the bier while reciters intone the Koran in beautiful and affecting voices, and pray over
it in the Cathedral mosque. When the reading is completed the muezzins rise and say
"Reflect on your prayer for so-and-so, the pious and learned," describing him
with good epithets, and having prayed over him they take him to his grave.
Ibn Battuta leaves Damascus with the annual pilgrim caravan
When the new moon of the month Shawwal appeared in the same year [1st September 1326],
the Hijaz caravan left Damascus and I set off along with it. At Bosra the caravans usually
halt for four days so that any who have been detained at Damascus by business affairs may
make up on them. Thence they go to the Pool of Ziza, where they stop for a day, and then
through al-Lajjun to the Castle of Karak. Karak, which is also called "The Castle of
the Raven," is one of the most marvellous, impregnable, and celebrated of fortresses.
It is surrounded on all sides by the river-bed, and has but one gate, the entrance to
which is hewn in the living rock, as also is the approach to its vestibule. This fortress
is used by kings as a place of refuge in times of calamity, as the sultan an-Nasir did
when his mamluke Salar seized the supreme authority. The caravan stopped for four days at
a place called ath-Thaniya outside Karak, where preparations were made for entering the
desert.
Thence we Journeyed to Ma'an, which is the last town in Syria, and from 'Aqabat
as-Sawan entered the desert, of which the saying goes: " He who enters it is lost,
and he who leaves it is born."
Crossing the desert from Syria to Medina
After a march of two days we halted at Dhat Hajj, where there are subterranean
waterbeds but no habitations, and then went on to Wadi Baldah (in which there is no water)
and to Tabuk, which is the place to which the Prophet led an expedition. The great caravan
halts at Tabuk for four days to rest and to water the camels and lay in water for the
terrible desert between Tabuk and al-Ula. The custom of the watercarriers is to camp
beside the spring, and they have tanks made of buffalo hides, like great cisterns, from
which they water the camels and fill the waterskins. Each amir or person of rank has a
special tank for the needs of his own camels and personnel; the other people make private
agreements with the watercarriers to water their camels and fill their waterskins for a
fixed sum of money.
From Tabuk the caravan travels with great speed night and day, for fear of this desert.
Halfway through is the valley of al-Ukhaydir, which might well be the valley of Hell (may
God preserve us from it). One year the pilgrims suffered terribly here from the
samoom-wind; the water-supplies dried up and the price of a single drink rose to a
thousand dinars, but both seller and buyer perished. Their story is written on a rock in
the valley.
Five days after leaving Tabuk they reach the well of al-Hijr, which has an abundance of
water, but not a soul draws water there, however violent his thirst, following the example
of the Prophet, who passed it on his expedition to Tabuk and drove on his camel, giving
orders that none should drink of its waters. Here, in some hills of red rock, are the
dwellings of Thamud. They are cut in the rock and have carved thresholds. Anyone seeing
them would take them to be of recent construction. [The] decayed bones [of the former
inhabitants] are to be seen inside these houses.
Al-Ula, a large and pleasant village with palm-gardens and water-springs, lies half a
day's journey or less from al-Hijr. The pilgrims halt there four days to provision
themselves and wash their clothes. They leave behind them here any surplus of provisions
they may have, taking with them nothing but what is strictly necessary. The people of the
village are very trustworthy. The Christian merchants of Syria may come as far as this and
no further, and they trade in provisions and other goods with the pilgrims here. On the
third day after leaving al-Ula the caravan halts in the outskirts of the holy city of
Medina.
Ibn Battuta visits the holy sites of Medina pp. 74-77.
That same evening [the third day after leaving al-Ula, on the route from Syria and
Damascus] we entered the holy sanctuary and reached the illustrious mosque, halting in
salutation at the Gate of Peace; then we prayed in the illustrious "garden"
between the tomb of the Prophet and the noble pulpit, and reverently touched the fragment
that remains of the palm-trunk against which the Prophet stood when he preached. Having
paid our meed of salutation to the lord of men from first to last, the intercessor for
sinners, the Prophet of Mecca, Muhammad, as well as to his two companions who share his
grave, Abu Bakr and 'Omar, we returned to our camp, rejoicing at this great favour
bestowed upon us, praising God for our having reached the former abodes and the
magnificent sanctuaries of His holy Prophet, and praying Him to grant that this visit
should not be our last and that we might be of those whose pilgrimage is accepted.
On this journey, our stay at Medina lasted four days. We used to spend every night in
the illustrious mosque, where the people, after forming circles in the courtyard and,
lighting large numbers of candles, would pass the time either in reciting the Koran from
volumes set on rests in front of them, or in intoning litanies, or in visiting the
sanctuaries of the holy tomb.
From Medina to Mecca through a final desert, the vale of Bazwa
We then set out from Medina towards Mecca, and halted near the mosque of Dhu'l-Hulayfa,
five miles away. It was at this point that the Prophet assumed the pilgrim garb and
obligations, and here too I divested myself of my tailored clothes, bathed, and putting on
the pilgrim's garment I prayed and dedicated myself to the pilgrimage. Our fourth halt
from here was at Badr, where God aided His Prophet and performed His promise. It is a
village containing a series of palm-gardens and a bubbling spring with a stream flowing
from it. Our way lay thence through a frightful desert called the Vale of Bazwa for three
days to the valley of Rabigh where the rainwater forms pools which lie stagnant for a long
time. From this point (which is just before Juhfa) the pilgrims from Egypt and Northwest
Africa put on the pilgrim garment. Three days after leaving Rabigh we reached the pool of
Khulays which lies in a plain and has many palm-gardens. The Bedouin of that neighbourhood
hold a market there, to which they bring sheep, fruits, and condiments. Thence we
travelled through 'Usfan to the Bottom of Marr, a fertile valley with numerous palms and a
spring supplying a stream from which the district is irrigated. From this valley fruit and
vegetables are transported to Mecca
We set out at night from this blessed valley, with hearts full of joy at reaching the
goal of our hopes, and in the morning arrived at the City of Surety, Mecca (may God
ennoble her !), where we immediately entered the holy sanctuary and began the rites of
pilgrimage.
The pious kindness of the people of Mecca
The inhabitants of Mecca are distinguished by many excellent and noble activities and
qualities, by their beneficence to the humble and weak, and by their kindness to
strangers. When any of them makes a feast, he begins by giving food to the religious
devotees who are poor and without resources, inviting them first with kindness and
delicacy. The majority of these unfortunates are to be found by the public bakehouses, and
when anyone has his bread baked and takes it away to his house, they follow him and he
gives each one of them some share of it, sending away none disappointed. Even if he has
but a single loaf, he gives away a third or a half of it, cheerfully and without any
grudgingness.
Another good habit of theirs is this. The orphan children sit in the bazaar, each with
two baskets, one large and one small. When one of the townspeople comes to the bazaar and
buys cereals, meat and vegetables, he hands them to one of these boys, who puts the
cereals in one basket and the meat and vegetables in the other and takes them to the man's
house, so that his meal may be prepared. Meanwhile the man goes about his devotions and
his business. There is no instance of any of the boys having ever abused their trust in
this matter, and they are given a fixed fee of a few coppers.
The cleanliness of the people of Mecca
The Meccans are very elegant and clean in their dress, and most of them wear white
garments, which you always see fresh and snowy. They use a great deal of perfume and kohl
and make free use of toothpicks of green arak-wood. The Meccan women are extraordinarily
beautiful and very pious and modest. They too make great use of perfumes to such a degree
that they will spend the night hungry in order to buy perfumes with the price of their
food. They visit the mosque every Thursday night, wearing their finest apparel; and the
whole sanctuary is saturated with the smell of their perfume. When one of these women goes
away the odour of the perfume clings to the place after she has gone.
On the caravan route to Basra from Mecca to Medina pp. 86-87.
Three days' march through this district brought us to the town of Wisit. Its
inhabitants are among the best people in Iraq--indeed, the very vest of them without
qualification. All the Iraqis who wish to learn how to recite the Koran come here, and our
caravan contained a
number of students who had come for that purpose.
The customs of the Ahmadi dervishes at Umm 'Ubayda
As the caravan stayed here [Wisit] three days, I had an opportunity of visiting the
grave of ar-Rifai which is at a village called Umm 'Ubayda, one day's journey from there.
I reached the establishment at noon the next day and found it to be an enormous monastery
containing thousands of darwishes [dervishes]. After the mid-afternoon prayer drums and
kettledrums were beaten and the darwishes began to dance. After this they prayed the
sunset prayer and brought in the meal, consisting of rice-bread, fish, milk and dates.
After the night prayer they began to recite their litany. A number of loads of wood had
been brought in and kindled into a flame, and they went into the fire dancing; some of
them rolled in it and others ate it in their mouths until they had extinguished it
entirely. This is the peculiar custom of the Ahmadi darwishes. Some of them take large
snakes and bite their heads with their teeth until they bite them clean through.
Ibn Battuta comes to Basra
After visiting ar-Rifai's tomb I returned to Wasit and found that the caravan had
already started, but overtook them on the way, and accompanied them to Basra. As we
approached the city I had remarked at a distance of some two miles from it a lofty
building resembling a fortress. I asked about it and was told that it was the mosque of
'Ali. Basra was in former times a city so vast that this mosque stood in the centre of the
town, whereas now it is two miles outside it. Two miles beyond it again is the old wall
that encircled the town, so that it stands midway between the old wall and the present
city.
Basra is one of the metropolitan cities of Iraq and no place on earth excels it in
quantity of palm-groves. The current price of dates in its market is fourteen pounds to an
Iraqi dirham, which is one-third of a nuqra. The qadi sent me a hamper of dates that a man
could scarcely carry; I sold them and received nine dirhams, and three of those were taken
by the porter for carrying the basket from the house to the market.
The kindness and ignorance of the inhabitants
The inhabitants of Basra possess many excellent qualities; they are affable to
strangers and give them their due, so that no stranger ever feels lonely amongst them.
They hold the Friday service in the mosque of 'Ali mentioned above, but for the rest of
the week it is closed. I was present once at the Friday service in this mosque and when
the preacher rose to deliver his discourse he committed many gross errors of grammar. In
astonishment at this I spoke of it to the qadi and this is what he said to me: "In
this town there is not a man left who knows anything of the science of grammar." Here
is a lesson for those who will reflect on it--Magnified be He who changes all things! This
Basra, in whose people the mastery of grammar reached its height, from whose soil sprang
its trunk and its branches, amongst whose inhabitants is numbered the leader whose primacy
is undisputed--the preacher in this town cannot deliver a discourse without breaking its
rules!
Ibn Battuta leaves Basra by boat
At Basra I embarked in a sumbuq, that is a small boat, for Ubulla, which lies ten miles
distant. One travels between a constant succession of orchards and palm-groves both to
right and left, with merchants sitting in the shade of the trees selling bread, fish,
dates, milk and fruit. Ubulla was formerly a large town, frequented by merchants from
India and Firs, but it fell into decay and is now a village.
Ibn Battuta describes the city of Baghdad pp. 99-101.
Thence we travelled to Baghdad, the Abode of Peace and Capital of Islam. Here there are
two bridges like that at Hilla on which the people promenade night and day, both men and
women. The town has eleven cathedral mosques, eight on the right bank and three on the
left, together with very many other mosques and madrasas, only the latter are all in
ruins.
The baths at Baghdad are numerous and excellently constructed, most of them being
painted with pitch, which has the appearance of black marble. This pitch is brought from a
spring between Kufa and Basra, from which it flows continually. It gathers at the sides of
the spring like clay and is shovelled up and brought to Baghdad. Each establishment has a
large number of private bathrooms, every one of which has also a wash-basin in the corner,
with two taps supplying hot and cold water. Every bather is given three towels, one to
wear round his waist when he goes in, another to wear round his waist when he comes out,
and the third to dry himself with. In no town other than Baghdad have I seen all this
elaborate arrangement, though some other towns approach it in this respect.
The western part of Baghdad was the earliest to be built, but it is now for the most
part in ruins. In spite of that there remain in it still thirteen quarters, each like a
city in itself and possessing two or three baths. The hospital (maristan) is a vast ruined
edifice, of which only vestiges remain.
The eastern part has an abundance of bazaars, the largest of which is called the
Tuesday bazaar. On this side there are no fruit trees, but all the fruit is brought from
the western side, where there are orchards and gardens.
Ibn Battuta leaves Baghdad for Persia and the city of Tabriz
I left Baghdad with the mahalla of Sultan Abu Sa'id, on purpose to see the way in which
the king's marches are conducted and travelled with it for ten days, thereafter
accompanying one of the amirs to the town of Tabriz.
Ibn Battutta journeys to Tabriz pp. 101-102.
I left Baghdad with the mahalla of Sultan Abu Sa'id, on purpose to see the way in which
the king's marches are conducted, and travelled with it for ten days, thereafter
accompanying one of the amirs to the town of Tabriz. We reached the town after ten days'
travelling, and encamped outside it in a place called ash-Sham. Here there is a fine
hospice, where travellers are supplied with food, consisting of bread, meat, rice cooked
in butter, and sweetmeats.
The riches of the Ghazan bazaar in Tabriz
The next morning I entered the town and we came to a great bazaar, called the Ghazan
bazaar, one of the finest bazaars I have seen the world over. Every trade is grouped
separately in it. I passed through the jewellers' bazaar, and my eyes were dazzled by the
varieties of precious stones that I beheld. They were displayed by beautiful slaves
wearing rich garments with a waist-sash of silk, who stood in front of the merchants,
exhibiting the jewels to the wives of the Turks, while the women were buying them in large
quantities and trying to outdo one another. As a result of all this I witnessed a
riot--may God preserve us from such! We went on into the ambergris and musk market, and
witnessed another riot like it or worse.
Ibn Battuta meets the Sultan
We spent only one night at Tabriz. Next day the amir received an order from the sultan
to rejoin him, so I returned along with him, without having seen any of the learned men
there [in Tabriz]. On reaching the camp the amir told the sultan about me and introduced
me into his presence. The sultan asked me about my country, and gave me a robe and a
horse. The amir told him that I was intending to go to the Hijaz, whereupon he gave orders
for me to be supplied with provisions and to travel with the cortege of the commander of
the pilgrim caravan, and wrote instructions to that effect to the governor of Baghdad. I
returned therefore to Baghdad and received in full what the sultan had ordered. As more
than two months remained before the period when the pilgrim caravan was to set out, I
thought it a good plan to make a journey to Mosul and Diyar Bakr to see those districts
and then return to Baghdad when the Hijaz caravan was due to start.
After returning to Baghdad, Ibn Battuta makes his second pilgrimage to Mecca
Source.
Ibn Battuta, Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354, tr. and ed. H. A. R. Gibb
(London: Broadway House, 1929)
© Paul Halsall, February 21, 2001
