Battutah3-58
Claudia Hernandez
LAS 284
Battutah 3-58
Battutah left from his birthplace Tangier in the year seven hundred and twenty-five with the objective of making the pilgrimage to the Holy House at Mecca and visiting the tomb of the Prophet. He then arrived at the city of Tilimsan and he rode after two envoys of the king of Africa. One of the persons fell ill and Battutah ended up leaving them and joining some merchants from Tunis. During his journey, he reached the town of Qusantinah and since they were caught by heavy rains, his clothes got ruined and along with the others had to stay in some of the buildings versus their tents. The governor then greeted him and he gave orders that his clothes should be washed at his house. Maybe the reason why the governor did this for Battutah was because he knew he was a traveler that was on his pilgrimage or maybe he did it out of pure goodness. I found this incident quite interesting.
When they reached the town of Tunis, he “wept bitterly” (pg5) because no one greeted him, since no one knew him. He encountered loneliness being away from home, and perhaps in this instant remembered his family and all he left behind to go on in this pilgrimage. Battutah also got married with the daughter of a talib and he gave a wedding feast at which he detained the caravan for a whole day.
One thing that I did notice is the fact that when he describes a city or town, he also describes it as if it is some sort of person with physical characteristics. An example is on pg 6 when he describes the city of al-Iskandariyah.
Another fascinating thing is how everything is known by word of mouth. An example is that on pg 11 on the pious Shaikh Abu Abdallah al-Murshidi of how well he treated all his guests and got them whatever food he desired. Battutah got to stay with him and he revealed him a dream which he had. This dream revealed that he should go to Mecca and visit the tomb of the prophet and then he shall travel through the lands of the al-Yaman and al-Iraq, the land of the Turks, and the land of India. It is quite fascinating how legends and rumors or people get to be known in this time. Since there is no media at this time to tell the news or what is going around in other parts of the world, for him to have heard about this great man, in my opinion is just amazing. It is thanks to all those travelers that Battutah heard about him and we know about him as well.
Chapter one ends with Battutah sailing down the Nile and arriving at Cairo, but when he arrives at the town of Balbais, he “did not see there anyone whom he wish to mention” (pg. 25) This was surprising since he always meets or encounters someone whom he seems worthy of mentioning, people in this place must really not be of much interest to him, or maybe they weren’t as nice as people from previous towns. Battutah mentions how at Jerusalem there is a venerated church which the Christians go on pilgrimage to, and all who go on pilgrimage there are liable to a stipulated tax to the Muslim and various humiliations, many similar things happen nowadays with people of different beliefs around the world.
