What did Ibn Battuta see in Basra and Kufa?

"from the city. Besides these, there are numerous graves of companions and Tabi'een, and those martyred on the day of the camel battle. The ruler of Basra, when I visited, was named Rukn al-Din al-Ajami al-Turizi, who hosted me kindly. Basra is on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and experiences tides similar to those in the Valley of Salah in the Maghreb and elsewhere. The salty gulf from the Persian Sea is ten miles away. When the tide comes in, salty water overcomes the fresh, and when it recedes, fresh water overcomes the salty."

"The Euphrates is about half a farsang, ancient unit of distance from Kufa to its east, surrounded by lush, interconnecting palm gardens. West of the Kufa cemetery, I came across a spot of intense blackness in a white plain. I was informed that it was the grave of the wicked ibn Muljam, and that the people of Kufa bring a large amount of wood every year to burn a fire over his grave for seven days."

"The next morning, we took to the sea intending to reach Majul. In my travels, I usually avoid returning by the same route if possible, and I had intended to head for Baghdad in Iraq. Some people in Basra advised me to travel through Lur's land, then to Persian Iraq, and finally to Arab Iraq. I followed their advice, reaching Majul within four days."

"in, salty water overcomes the fresh, and when it recedes, fresh water overcomes the salty. Thus, the people of Basra persistently draw inadequate water for their homes, and it is said that their water is brackish. Ibn Juzayy noted that because of this, the air of Basra is unpleasant, and its people's complexions are pale and dull, to the point where they became a proverb. A poet composed upon presenting an orange to a patron, To Allah an orange has come between us, expressing the state of a sorrowful one, when Allah adorned with garments of wasting the dwellers of love and those of Basra. I then sailed from the shores"

"to Mayan, then to Yazdkass, then to Khalil, then to Kashkzar, then to Isfahan, then to Tustar, then to Huwaiza, and then to Basra. I previously mentioned all of these places. In Basra, I visited the noble graves located there, including those of Zubayr ibn al-Awam, Talha ibn Bayt Allah, Halima al-Sadiya, Abu Bakra, Anas ibn Malik, al-Hassan al-Basri, Thabit al-Banani, Muhammad ibn Sirin, Malik ibn Dinar, Muhammad ibn Wasi, Habib al-Ajami, and Sal ibn Abdullah al-Tustari. May Allah be pleased with them all. From Basra, we then traveled to the tomb of Ali ibn Abi Talib. May Allah be pleased with him. And we visited"

"in Tarifa and the Roman seizure of Khadrah. May God repair Islam's fracture caused by this. During my visit, the sultan of Baghdad and Iraq was Sheikh Hassan, son of Sultan Abu Sayyid's sister-in-law. After Abu Sayyid's death, he assumed control over his territory in Iraq and married Abu Sayyid's wife, Delshad, the daughter of Damascus Khawaja, son of Emir Jupan, similarly to how Sultan Abu Sayyid married Sheikh Hassan's wife. At that time, Sultan Hassan was absent from Baghdad as he was heading to combat Sultan Atabeg Afrasiyab, the lord of Loristan. Having left Baghdad, I arrived at the city of Anbar, then to Hitt,"

"refusing to present himself, saying, I do not go to a Sultan before whom scholars must stand. Haji Khawan, a cousin of Sultan Abu Sa'id, King of Iraq, was also involved. His brother, Musa became a king in some regions of Iraq, and Haji Khawan came to the Sultan as a delegation. The Sultan honored him with hospitality and gave him generous gifts."

"He witnessed the conquest of Sindh with the army sent by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf during his governorship of Iraq, and remained there, with his family line multiplying. These Samaritans do not eat with anyone nor like anyone to see them as they eat. They do not marry outside their group, nor do others marry into theirs. At that time, they had a leader named Wunar, with a closed wa, and an open nun, whose story we shall recount. We then traveled from Janani to the city of Siustan, pronounced with a broken firsts, an elongated y, an open wa, a broken s, a short t, and ending with n. This is a large city surrounded by desert and sands, with no trees except for the Um Gilan tree."