What did Ibn Battuta see in Damascus?
Ibn Battuta arrived in Damascus on his first journey, years before the Black Death devastated the city. His description is the classical portrait of a Muslim metropolis at its height.
8 passages from 2 books in the library
Ibn Battuta found Damascus a flourishing Muslim metropolis, ringed on every side except the east by spacious, well-watered suburbs. In his Riḥlah he describes its commerce — carob sweets sent from Nablus, merchants extending credit in dirhams — and a city dense with scholars and Sufi shaykhs, including a companion of Shaykh ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn al-Kūnawī who had settled there. Returning after twenty years, he traveled onward through Homs, Hama, Maʿarra and Sarmīn to Aleppo. His account is the classical portrait of Damascus at its height, before the Black Death.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 2 books by Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"companions, he takes it out, seeming as just one spoon, only to reveal nine more from within. I entered Baalbek in the evening and left the next day, driven by my eagerness for Damascus. I arrived in the city of Damascus on Thursday, the ninth of the blessed month of Ramadan in the year 26, and stayed at the Maliki school known as Al-Sharabshaya. Damascus is superior to all lands in beauty, and excels them in elegance, and no description, however long, can do justice to its splendors. Nothing surpasses the words of Abu al-Hassan ibn Jubair, may God have mercy on him, in his mention of it. As for Damascus, it is the paradise of"
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"their plight after the death toll had reached 2,000 per day. In Cairo in Egypt, it had reached 24,000 in a single day. At the eastern gate of Damascus, there is a white minaret said to be where Isa, peace be upon him, will descend, as mentioned in Sahih Muslim. The environs of Damascus, around Damascus, except on the eastern side, are spacious suburbs, their interiors more pleasant than that of Damascus, due to the narrow alleys within the city."
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"lush, limited by sight. Indeed, those who say if there is a paradise on earth, it is Damascus, are truthful. If in the heavens, Damascus matches and rivals it. Ibn Juzay narrates, a poet from among her praised this idea, saying, if the eternal paradise is on earth, it is Damascus and nowhere else, or if it is in the heavens, it shines over it, having embraced both its air and charm, a blissful land and a forgiving Lord, sees it morning and evening. Our mentor, the illustrious traveler and hadith scholar, Shams al-Din Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Jabir Ibn Hassan al-Qaysi al-Wadi Ashi, resident of Tunis, quoted Ibn Jubair's words and"
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"the breezes of the north are abundant. Her flowing water is unrestricted, and the breeze of her meadows is gentle. This is from the highest caliber of poetry. Ukrala of Damascus from the Kalb tribe said, Damascus is like a mole and paradise in this world. Its tearful eye is as noble as Jalouk. From its fragrance you find a paradise that never ends, and from the red anemone, a hell that does not burn. He also said about it, as for Damascus, it is a hastened paradise. For the seekers there are boys and auris. Whenever the moon sang on its strings, it was accompanied by the song of doves and blackbirds. How wonderful, the water's"
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
· Provenance →
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"al-Nabigha. They build Tadmur with stone layers and columns. From there, we traveled to the city of Damascus in Syria. I had been absent from it for a full twenty years. When I left, I had a wife there who was pregnant. While in India, I learned that she had given birth to a son, so I sent forty gold dinars of Indian currency to her maternal grandfather who was from Meknes in the Maghreb. Upon arriving in Damascus this time, I had no concern except to inquire about my son. I entered the mosque and was guided to Nur al-Din al-Sakawi, the leading Malakite and their elder. I greeted him, but he did not recognize me, so I introduced"
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"He would tell whoever offered him, Sit until I derive a little or much from what you have contributed for today. One of his stories recounts when the Tatar king Ghazan reached Syria with his armies and seized Damascus except for its fortress. The young king al-Nasir left to confront him, and the encounter occurred two days' travel from Damascus at a place called Kashab."
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"He informed me that my father had died 15 years prior and that my mother was still alive. I stayed in Damascus for the remainder of the year, where a severe famine prevailed, with bread costing seven ounces of silver per piece, and each ounce equating to four Moroccan ounces. At that time, the chief judge of the Molokites was Jamal al-Din al-Mislati, one of Shaykh ala al-Din al-Kunawi's companions who had come with him to Damascus and gained recognition there."
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"He then assumed the judgeship, and the chief judge of the Shafis was Taqi al-Din ibn al-Subqi, while the emir of Damascus was the prince of princes, Argun Shah. During those days, a prominent figure of Damascus passed away and bequeathed wealth to the poor. The executor of his will bought bread to distribute to them daily after the afternoon."
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