Born among the daughters of the slave-girls , like a fawn, strange , but house-nurtured.

Now, should mankind reproach me as to my love for her, my reproacher would never, to all eternity, be right.

They say: A black girl! But were they only just ; and what would it cost were they just to the disparaged one ?

For, were there no blackness, and the marvellous beauty of mystery wherewith God hath endowed it.

It would never have dwelt in the centres of the eyes, nor would it have been in the cores of the hearts ;

Neither would the mole have adorned the cheek of the stripling, nor would tracery have embellished the tablet of the sage.

Is not the Stone of the Corner-Pilaster the best of all stones ? Is not musk more fragrant than all other perfumes ?

Is not the delight of mankind, in their generation, in the eulogy of youth and the dispraise of hoariness?

The eye is not admired when the eyelids are void of stibium; nor the palm of the hand when untinged with henna.

Neither is every eye like the eye of the lover, nor every heart like the heart of one's beloved!

 

Chapter V

P279

In the month of Shewwal (May, 1305) the Sultan (of Yemen) gave the city of Ebyen (6) and its dependencies as a fief to the son of Behram. He dispatched the son of Buz towards the territories of Egypt on the 1st of Shewwal (about 25th April), having already given him Qahma (7) in fief. He set out on his journey in the first decade of the month, with all sorts of rarities of value, such as silver-plate articles of various kinds, such as basons and ewers, trays, censers, globes, scabbards; poles of lign-aloes and sandal-wood, large lumps of ambergris, pods of musk ; choice articles of china porcelain and jade, such as dishes and cream-colored vases, the beauty of which it is impossible to describe; Abyssinian eunuchs; Indian bamboo spear-shafts, Chinese couches, gilt brackets; valuable turbansashes, cloths of Beylaqan (west of the Caspian), most esteemed gold brocades of China; vases, plates and dishes; chests full of musk in grains, China gambir or catechu (Terra Japonica), refined camphor, another assortment; also, of what relates to spices, as pepper, cloves, ginger, lac, sappan-wood, hides-full; of wild beasts, as elephants, zebra (wahimar alwahsh), giraffes, all clothed with satin silk interwoven with gold thread in designs and horses of price from Arabian sires and dams, worthy of the state of him to whom they were sent.

 

Vol II Chapter VIII

P161

On the 8th of Rejeb (12th August, 1385). there arrived at the court of the Sultan gifts from the lord of Dehlek (8), among them an elephant, some wild beasts, and other things besides these that are esteemed rarities.

P171

On the 3rd of Shewwdl (14th October 1387) the Sultan proceeded to Juwwa (9), remaining there some days. …….. There arrived at court from Dehlek (8) an offering, in which was an elephant, a cameleopard, an ostrich, and sundry wild beasts.

P264

On the 7th of Muharrem (29th September 1398) there arrived at court an offering of the Sheykh Aliyy son of Ebu-Bekr son of Zeyd, lord of Ebyatu-Huseyn (10)(in Yemen), who brought two elephants, an ostrich, two giraffes, a young lion, a wild ass, ten head of ruddy camels, ten beautiful slave-girls, and ten slave youths able to bear arms. The Sultan bestowed upon him three thousand ducats (16), gave him a splendid dress of honor, made him the Sheykh of his country, made for him a benevolent reduction in the tribute of that country below what it was before, and allowed him to intercede for several Sheykhs of Arabian tribes that were in bonds and whom he set at liberty.

P285

The jurist Aliyy son of Muhammed the Nashirite informed me and said: One of those who were voyaging by sea told me that there happened in the lands of the blacks (Sudan) a tremendous earthquake that lasted continuously for a number of days less than ten, from which a number of places and many hills fell down. There afterwards broke out in a canton thereof an immense fire with a great volume of smoke; and the inhabitants fled from that region. The fire continued for some  days, and the smoke became massed. Later, this smoke took a solid form and became a group of hills in that locality, where, up to that event, no hills of any kind were known. The whole of this occurred in the course of the latter half of the year A.H. 802 (1400AD) aforesaid. But Gods knows best.

 

Al-Khazraji: Al-uqud al-lu’lu’iya fi akhbfir al-daula al-Rasuliya:

(The pearl strings concerning the stories of the Rasuli kingdom) .

 

Taken from:  Ulrich Haarmann Bettina Zantana: Zwischen Suez und Aden - Pilger und Fernhandler im Roten Meer vom zehnten bis zum sechzehnten Jahrhundert

This book is a separate version of the Rasulid part of the Kifayah

 

In 1303

This year, a trader came from the land of I-Jitae (North China) through Sin (South China) named 'Abd al-`Aziz b. Mansur al-Halabi (11)(to Aden). He had a huge fortune with him. Noted may be silk, three hundred different spices, in each case amounting to the weight of 300 Ratl Baghdad (ca. 150 kg), in lead vessels musk weighting 450 Ratl (225 kg), Chinese  Porcelain (al-fabhar aş-sini) small ones, and also big ones encrusted with gold and Jade (al-al-yam awani al-muta 'ama aşşulıiin bi' / min dahab al-kibar) in big number also different colored cloth, many slaves (mamatik) and slave girls (gewari) and silver (last) glittering diamonds (al-al-fickla mas) with a weight of 5 Ratl (2.5 kg), which, as said, from them on behalf of the merchants of those areas, as a religious gift (sadaqa), they will be forwarded to the two Holy Places. But the taxes on brought goods in the well-protected town of Aden

amounted to 300,000 dirhams (17).

 

In 1304 (presents send to Mamluk Egypt)

…various silver vessels (fiıkliyyat) such as bowls, jugs (abariq), plates (salahiyyut), censers (rnagumir), balls (ukar) and cases (qirabat).  Rods (Sawari) of aloe and sandalwood, large pieces of amber, musk bubbles (al-nawafig misk), also huge quantities of Chinese porcelain (fah, bar as-sini) silver and Jade, and plates and bowls (zabadi) of incredible beauty. Then several Ethiopian eunuch, Indian pipe (Bamboo) Chinese litters (al-maragid as-siniyya), gilded chairs (maratib), fine fabrics and textile from Moussel and cloth from (the South Caucasus) Baylaqan (al-baylaqaniyyat), Chinese brocade fabrics in huge numbers, vessels, and plates, in  filled (glass)boxes of musk, the juice of the herb dah-sini and powdered (tayyiir) camphor in big amounts. Finally, there were for the storage rooms (hawd igh cinah) (of the sultan) pepper, cloves, ginger, shellac (lakk) and shiny redwood (baqqam). Furthermore, (he sent) wild animals such as elephants, asses in striped dress (al-Attabi), giraffes, all dressed in silk and gold knitted atlas cloth, and expensive Arabian horses of noble origin, as befitted the receiver. Two large ships (were needed), to bring him all of this.

 

Taken from: Notes on Migration between Yemen and Northeast Africa during the 13–15th Centuries by Tamon Baba

 

In  this  year  (652/1254–1255),  the  shaykh,  imam,  and Hanafi jurist, Abu al-Rabi Sulayman ibn Musa ibn Ali ibn al-Gawn al-As’ar died(. . .). He was known as a person who despised bad deeds (al-munkar).When “the Saturday” (al-subut) was held in Zabid and bad deeds (=alcohol) happened, he left for al-Habasa. He lived in the village called Run until he died in the year mentioned above.

 

In 729/1329, the jurist and pious man, Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad  al-Zayla al-Uqayli died. Al-Uqayli originates from Uqayl ibn Abi Talib, who was the lord of the village of Salama in Wadi Nahla. The family was originally from the village of Bitta in al-Habasa.

 

In  this year (741/1340–1341), the fair-minded jurist and imam, Abu al-Atiq Abu Bakr ibn Gibril ibn Awsam al-Adali died. He was a jurist, and fair-minded, generous, well educated, pious, and exalted. His family (ahluhu) in Sudan, is considered faithful, and often performs good deeds

 

Ali ibn al-Hasan Khazraji: al-Aqd al-Fakhir al-hasan fī tabaqat akabir ahl al-Yaman

(Great Men from al-Yaman) (1400)

 

Taken from noorlib.ir العقد الفاخر الحسن في طبقات أکابر أهل الیمن  by خزرجی، علی بن حسن

 

(Ismail bin Ahmed bin Daniel Abu Al-Zabih, known as Al-Qalhati,) (15)

…. then some of the emirs of Hurmuz revolted against the authority (=Sultan) and killed him and they intended to kill this jurist for his companionship to the sultan, so a group interceded for him, he got expelled from the country, so he went to Makdishu, but the wind did not help him, so he went to Aden, and that was in the year eighteen and seven hundred.

 

....... Abd al-Rahman bin Rashid has advanced to the door of the Sultan, and he presented gifts to their Masters, then he sought refuge with Ali bin Yahya Al-Ansi, who will be mentioned next, God willing. When he contacted the Sultan, he learned what Al-Asbahi (14) had done. He (=Rashid) had been dismissed by the prince; it was hard for him, and he regretted his dismissal.

(Abd al-Rahman bin Rashid on behalf of the country, then Prince Shams al-Din Ali bin Yahya reviewed it in a repeat)

Abd al-Rahman bin Rashid bin Iqbal spoke over his mandate in Al-Shihr (20), so the Sultan had summoned him and deposed him. And now he commanded him to advance to Al-Shihr, and he answered with obedience. And he asked the Sultan to provide him with some money, and he answered what he asked. And he borrowed some money from Prince Shams al-Din Ali ibn Yahya as well, then he took several boxes and carried them on camels for days, then he walked by land and used many of the Arabs of that region, and he walked in a large crowd gathered until he entered Al-Shihr, so he asked for the captain of Al-Asbahi, who had left from Al-Shihr to the district of Maqdashoh. Abd al-Rahman resided in al-Shihr until the death of Sultan Nur al-Din (18) in the following history, and the Sultan al-Malik al-Muzaffar (19) seized the kingdom of Yemen.

 

Bamarwan

Abu Marwan Ali bin Ahmed bin Salem bin Muhammad bin Ala was a great jurist, from whom knowledge spread in the district of Hadramout completely, due to his righteousness and blessing in his teaching. When the jurist was informed of this and that this is Sufism, he deserted him. Among those who learned about the aforementioned Abu Marwan was Abu Zakariya, then he went out to the district of Makdishu; So knowledge spread widely there, and I did not verify the history of either of them, may God have mercy on them both .……

(1) Eryat: Ethiopian army commander send to take power in Yemen in 525AD.

(2) Ebreha: (Abraha) Officer under Eryat who killed him and became the new ruler of Yemen in 537AD.

(3) Yeksum succeeded his father in 571AD (year unsure).

(4) Mesrriq (Masruq) son of Ebreha, took power after the dead of his older brother, he was killed in the Battle of Hadhramaut in the Yemeni campaign of Wahriz (year unsure).

(5) Kethib: Hebrew word for ‘what is written’.

(6) city of Ebyen: Abyan in Yemen

(7) Qahma: Harbour now in Saudi Arabia, close to Yemen.

(8) Dehlek: Dahlak island off the Eritrean coast.

(9) Juwwa: near Aden in Yemen.

(10) lord of Ebyatu-Huseyn: Beyt-Huseyn

(11) 'Abd al-`Aziz b. Mansur al-Halabi: In the Mulakhkhas al-fitan is mentioned 'Abd al-`Aziz b. Mansur al-Halabi al Karami who came from Quilon to Aden in 1301-2.

(12) Shihr; coastal town in Hadhramaut in eastern Yemen.

(13) Abu Marwan Abu Zakaria: One more visitor to East Africa; This visitor is also mentioned by Mohamed Ben Ali al Qali'i (1233)

(14) on Asbahi see: Al Janadi (1332); Ibn Hatim (1295);.Ibn al-Ahdal (1451).

(15) Also found with Abu Makhrama 1521

(16) The ducat coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around 3.5 grams of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide international acceptance over the centuries.

(17) Dirham: silver coin of the Arab world (3 gr of silver)

(18) Sultan Nur al-Din was the first Rasulid Sultan of Yemen, from 1228 to 1249.

(19) Al-Muzaffar Yusuf I (1249-1295).

(20) Al-Shihr, is a coastal town in Hadhramaut, eastern Yemen.