Ibn Battuta
أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله بن بطوطة
Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Baṭṭūṭah
- Birthplace
- Tangier, Morocco
- Reference
- Wikipedia ↗
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
Ibn Battuta set out from Tangier at age 21 intending to perform Hajj. He did not return home for nearly three decades. His Riḥlah records his travels from Morocco to China, from the Volga to Sri Lanka, through courts, caravanserais, and shrines — a living portrait of the 14th-century Muslim world at its most connected.
- Tuḥfat al-Nuẓẓār fī Gharāʾib al-Amṣār wa ʿAjāʾib al-Asfār (The Rihla)
Ibn Battuta travelled further than any person before the age of steam. The Riḥlah is the single richest first-hand source we have on the world of the Islamicate in the 1300s.
Ibn Battuta, from the books.
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"substances, the first to build temples, and the first to glorify God Almighty. He warned people of the flood, fearing the loss of knowledge and crafts, so he built the pyramids and Barabbes, inscribing all crafts and instruments within them, and chronicling sciences to preserve them for eternity. It is said that the house of knowledge and power in Egypt was the city of Memphis, which was a postal stop from Fustat. When Alexandria was built, people moved there, making it the center of knowledge and power until the advent of Islam. Then Amr ibn al-As, may God be pleased with him, established the city of Fustat, which remains the capital of"
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"victory that opens its banners to the bright daylight, the support its spoils mark as states, the power that preempts reproach with the sword, patience never growing weary, the foresight closing paths before enemies, determination that breaks their ranks before battle lines clash, tolerance that reaps the fruits of faults, and gentleness that unites hearts under its love, and the knowledge that illuminates the darkness of problems, an action beneficial with sincerity and deeds exercised with intentions."
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"belongs to the pious. It is nothing but the fruit of what the Most High grants when relying on and delegating matters to Allah. Regarding his engagement with knowledge, here he is. May Allah support him, holding knowledge gatherings every day after the dawn prayer, inviting leading jurists and gifted students to his noble palace's mosque, where they read before him the exegesis of the Great Qur'an, the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him, the branches of Malik's school of thought, and the books of the mystics. In each of these areas he has the highest standing, elucidating their complexities with the light of his understanding"
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"imams and the rightly guided successors. I have not seen among the world's kings anyone whose care for knowledge has reached such a level. I have seen the king of India discussing knowledge of rational sciences alone before him after the dawn prayer. I saw the king of Java discussing the branches of the Shafi'i school alone after the Friday prayer. I marveled at the regularity of the king of Turkestan in attending the late evening and dawn prayers in congregation until I saw the persistence of our Lord. May Allah support him, in all prayers and congregation and during the standing of Ramadan, Allah chooses his mercy for whom"
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"him and he shortened his prayer. When he finished, he took my hand and said, May God grant you what you desire in this world and the hereafter, for I have reached my desire in this world, which is to travel through the earth, and I have traveled to places others have not, to my knowledge. Now my hope is strong in God's mercy and his pardon, and to achieve the desire of entering Paradise. Upon returning to my companions, I told them about the man and informed them of his location. They went to find him, but could not. Surprised by his story, we returned to the lodge by evening. Later, one of the four poor men came to us"
