Seas on fire, hurling waves of blood and mire.
Glowering skies replete with winds and ashes, pounding the earth below with torrents of locusts, frogs, and lice.
Now all is confusion. My vision turns to iron.
Here now is Izra’il, the Angel of Death. He stands behind me, wearing a luminous garment whose folds seem like silken wings. He has not come to negotiate with me about death, but rather to urge me to set my sail and wash my hands of this lower world.
“Good man,” he told me, “the years have exhausted you. You have long strived to reach your Lord. Now you will soon meet Him.”
“When blood pours out of its veins,” he asked, “does it ever return? Can fruit, once picked from the branch, be put back?”
“Impossible,” I replied.
“You, then, are just like that fruit or blood,” he said. “Put another way, you are like milk once it has left the udder. All it can do is disappear down the throat of whoever drinks it or else go sour till it evaporates.”
“Since I am a graduate of this troubled era,” I asked, “will you allow me to write my last will and testament?”
“It is not the right time,” he replied. “You are like a hollow palm trunk, lying there on your bed paralyzed and subject to all sorts of gruesome visions.”
All of a sudden the angel’s voice disappeared. I begged God to sever the cord as quickly as possible.
Perhaps He who alone is eternal responded to my call. I saw myself making my way along a deep trench with many branches, byways, and dark spots. Having reached its end, I then saw myself plunging into a bottomless abyss possessed of total control over the forces of fusion and attraction. At its very bottom, twixt earth and dust, it had the power to restore the falling soul to its original clay. The only one to escape its depths was the soul that in its ascent clung to the rope extended by God from heaven to earth.
Glossary
Dates in the glossary are given in their Islamic (Hijra) form followed by their Gregorian equivalent.
‘Abd al-Wadi: one of the North African dynasties during IBN KHALDUN’S time, based in TILIMSAN (Tlemcen).
Ablaq Palace: the Mamluk sultan Baybars (d. 676/1277) ordered an ablaq (striped) palace of black and ocher to be constructed in Damascus. It was later replicated in Cairo by Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala’un, who was first chosen as sultan as a child in 693/1293, but then deposed and sent into exile in Syria; he reassumed the sultanate in 698/1299.
Abu ‘Abdallah, deposed ruler of Bougie: IBN KHALDUN par ticipated in a plot to liberate Abu ‘Abdallah, the former amir of Bijaya (Bougie, formerly an important port, now in modern Algeria), and was imprisoned for two years by Sultan Abu ‘Inan. For a short period, Abu ‘Abdallah was restored to his dominions, but he was ousted by his cousin, Sultan Abu al-‘Abbas.
Abu ‘Amir: one of the Marini sultans in Fez who ruled for less than a year (799–800/1396–97).
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani (d. 363/967): Abu al-Faraj was the compiler of a large and famous collection of early Arabic poetry and song, Kitab al-aghani (‘The Book of Songs’).
Abu Hanifa al-Nu‘man (d. 150/767): founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic law.
Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili (d. 656/1258): born in northern Morocco, al-Shadhili became one of the most significant figures in the spread of Sufism. The Shadhiliya sect is named after him.
Abu Madyan (d. 594/1197): a renowned Andalusian mystic, he was born near Seville, but spent most of his life in North Africa.
Abu Sa’id: Marini sultan in Fez from 800/1398 till 823/1420.
‘Adiliya College: this mosque-college in Damascus where IBN KHALDUN took up residence in 803/1400 was situated close to the citadel of the city and to the northwest of the Great Umawi Mosque.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241/855): founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic law.
‘Ali (d. 40/661): Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin, the son of the Prophet’s uncle, Abu Talib. His appointment as the fourth caliph was the cause of the first great schism in Islam, creating the subdivision of the community into Sunnis who supported the Umawi dynasty and Shi‘is who believed in the validity of ‘Ali’s claims.
Almohads (al-Muwahhidun): the religious movement founded by Ibn Tumart that, after his death in 524/1130, became the ruling dynasty in North Africa and from 541/1146 included parts of al-Andalus as well.
‘Amr ibn al-‘As (d. c. 43/663): one of the most renowned commanders of Muslim armies during the early days of Islam, who was in charge of the conquest of Egypt. Legend has it that when a pigeon landed on his tent in the FUSTAT area to the south of modern Cairo, he took it as a portent and ordered the construction of the mosque that still carries his name on that site.
‘Antara and Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan: these are two heroic figures whose exploits are the subject of lengthy popular sagas, traditionally performed in public by storytellers.
‘Ashura’ Day: tenth day of Muharram, a day of fasting for Muslims, this day has particular significance in the Shi‘i calendar, being the day in 60/680 when Muhammad’s grandson, al-Husayn, was slain at the Battle of Karbala.
atabeg: regent or tutor to a prince of the ruling family, a term that came into use when the Saljuq sultans took over civilian and military control of Baghdad in the eleventh century. If the ward of the atabeg died young, the regent was entitled to marry the ward’s mother and thus become a ruler in his own right.
Atabeg Altunbugha al-Jubani (d. 797/1395): a close friend of IBN KHALDUN, he was a holder of a number of high offices during the reign of SULTAN BARQUQ. Following the failure of the rebellion led by YALBUGHA AL-NASIRI and MINTASH, BARQUQ appointed al-Jubani as governor of Syria. It was al-Jubani who interceded with the sultan to get IBN KHALDUN restored to favor after he had signed the legal opinion authorizing SULTAN BARQUQ’S deposition.
‘Ayn Jalut (‘Goliath’s Spring’): location of a battle in 658/1260 at which a large Mamluk army crushed a smaller force of Mongols, thus halting their advance to the south and west.
Aytamish: commander-in-chief of the army in Cairo, he was appointed special guardian of the young Sultan Faraj following SULTAN BARQUQ’S death. The appointment was vigorously opposed by TANAM, the viceroy of Damascus.
Bab al-Jabiya and Bab al-Saghir: the Jabiya gate was in the western portion of the city walls of Damascus. Bab al-Saghir (the ‘Small Gate’) was in the southern portion of the walls.
Bab al-Jayrun: a gate in the eastern wall of Damascus, close to the Umawi mosque.
al-Bakri and Yusuf ibn Tashufin: not a great deal is known about al-Bakri who appears to have lived in the thirteenth century and to have been a biographer, writing a life of the Prophet Muhammad among other works. Yusuf ibn Tashufin (d. 500/1106) was one of the illustrious leaders of the Murabitun, the Berber dynasty known in English as the Almoravids, who ruled over North Africa and Spain until they in turn were placed by the ALMOHADS.
Battle of Arak: in 591/1195, the forces of the Castilian king, Alfonso VIII, were defeated by the Muslims under the command of Yusuf ibn Mansur.
Battle of al-‘Iqab: a battle fought in al-Andalus in 608/1212 (also known as Las Navas de Tolosa), in which the Muslims were defeated by a Christian force led by Alfonso VIII of Castile.