Jewish Merchant

On the ship we met a Jewish merchant who told us of a journey he had taken a few years ago. Mark wrote down the entire story just like the man said. It went like this, “When the night of...arrived, we loaded and set sail, 35 days before 'New Year'. The captain had been ill while still in town, but we sailed for ten days. When we encountered a large reef, water being five fathoms high, and did not know whether this was the Fal (the northern end of the Laccadive Islands) or not, God granted us safety, but the captain had a stroke and died. We threw his body overboard into the sea. So the boat remained without a commander ...and we had no charts. A crowd in the ship was afraid the ship would be lost, if it landed in an Arab country. However, if we returned to India, there too the same might happen. They got the upper hand and returned us to Kulam. We gave up hope of saving our goods. After twenty days we arrived in Kulam, the place we feared. But God granted us delivery immediately. The...manager came on board and took the ship from us, confirming its rights to its proprietor...They provided us with water and wood. Two captains travelled with us, after they had signed documents with us, and we set sail. We arrived in Aden in the shortest possible time, prior to all others. I sold the iron for a good price, 20 dinars a bahdr. I had with me 72 bahdrs and 50 separate pieces, 30 mann saqat, and 40 mann clove. After customs I had obtained 1,500 dinars [and] a lot in other currencies. I had planned to travel home, but learned that a bahdr of pepper cost 35 dinars (in Aden). I could not tarry so long until I could buy pepper in Aden (for a reasonable price). Having sought God's guidance, I decided to travel to Faknur in the same boat in which we had arrived, for it had been blessed for me. I rented from them storage space for 150 bahirs, 100 for pepper and 50 for various other goods. For the 100 bahirs for pepper, I paid 90 mithqals of Adenese coinage. Sheikh 'AlI Ibn al Kufi and Sheikh Bundar had stipulated with them (the captains) for me that I would not pay them a dirhem until I had bought the pepper myself. I sent with Sheikh Abii 'l-Karam and Sheikh Abu 'l-Surur three loads of brazilwood and with them 27 less a quarter Maliki dinars for the custom duties and . . . made of lIlas, 50 red furjiyyas (robes open in the front) in mats, and ... a necklace made of Sili (Ceylon) beads. Please take note of this. Also with Sheikh Abu '1 Husayn Zayd Ibn Abu Mansur, the Alexandrian, ten ldlas robes. Take note. Accept my greetings. And greetings to the family [the writer's wife], to Sheikh Abu Ishaq and to Abu Nasr ... and all those you care about.’  Mark, Ibn, and I all listened to his story intently since the same events could occur to us. However after the story was over everyone fell asleep. I however investigated the ship some more and spent the night out on the deck, listening to and enjoying the sea.