Page 15 - Arab Navigation in the Indian Ocean (before portuguese)_Neat

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18 ARAB NAVIGATION
experiences to those who came before him, for the benefit of other
navigators who came after and not for sheer glory or for the use of
the general public.
Why his works have survived any more than those of earlier
writers may be purely an accident. On the other hand, the fact that
he was prolific may be the reason or perhaps his literary merit did
stand out against the majority. The fact that we have so many of
his works may be due to his reputation as a mariner or again his
reputation may depend on the survival of*his works. All the manu­
scripts and accounts of his works were written within a century of
his death and there is no evidence of continued re-copying through
the ages; only his name seems to have survived in the memories of
the later mu'allims. Sulaiman al-Mahri whose works have survived
by the side of those of Ibn Majid is completely unknown otherwise.
Altogether there seem to be over forty works of Ibn Majid known
in whole or in part. Most of these are navigational and practically
l each (ff. 156v-157v), the subject is again the heavens, but the poem
all are in verse. One or two only are purely intended as poetry with
no scientific meaning attached. Ferrand in his Instructions nautiques
has listed 35 works, while Shumovsky’s Leningrad poems make
another three, in addition there are several poems quoted in the
Fawa'id which Ferrand has missed. The following list of them is
based on the list with additions given by Ferrand, who begins by
enumerating the 19 works given in the Bibliotheque Nationale
MSS 2292.
1. The Fawa'id translated in this book and described below p. 25.
2. The Hdmya also described below p. 24.
3. al-Mu'arraba a rajaz poem on the Gulf of Aden consisting of
178 verses (ff. 123v-128r) and dated 890/1485.
4. al-Qiblat al-Isldm fi jamic al-dunya also called the Tuhfat al-
quddt which gives the direction of Mecca from various parts in 292
verses with 33 lines of prose as an introduction (ff. 128r-137r), of
which Ferrand gives a brief account. It is dated 893/1488 and in the
Fawd'id he mentions that he has written something of this nature
although he does not actually quote it.
5. An unnamed rajaz poem on the Persian Gulf consisting of
100 verses and without any date (ff. 137v-143v).
6. A rajaz poem on the seven stars of the Plough and their use
for determining the watches during the summer months. This is the
most recent of the works in MSS 2292, being one of three poems
only which are later in date than the Fawa'id. It consists of 68 verses
(ff. 143v-145v) and is dated 900/1494-5. At the end it is called
Urjuzat al-Jamma.
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THE NAVIGATORS AND THEIR WORKS 19
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7. Kanz al-ma'alima although this is called an urjuza {rajaz poem)
it is written in qafida form rhyming in /. It is in 71 verses (ff. 145v-
147v) and undated. But it is quoted by its first verse in the Fawa'id
(f. 36r, 1. 9) where it is referred to as the Qafida cArabiya. It deals
with star measurements generally.
8. An unnamed rajaz poem on the landfalls of the sea of India
and the Arab coast. It consists of 255 verses (ff. 147v-154v) and is
undated, but mentions the following poem.
9. A qafida called Mimiya (rhyming in m) on the six main abdal
methods of using Sharajan (a Arietis) and ‘Anaq (£ Urs. Maj.). It
consists of 64 verses (ff. 154v-156r) and can be dated roughly for it t
is quoted in no. 8 above and nos. 12, 15 and 16 below.
10. Urjuza mukhammasa. A curious poem in rajaz metre having
four hemistitches rhyming together with the first verse of the poem
used as a refrain after each, thus forming little verses of five lines
similar to European poetry. There are 17 verses of five hemistitches
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is important because it is dated a.h. 906 (1500) and in its intro­
duction he is described as if he were dead when it was first copied out.
11. Qafida nuniya. This is one of the many poems written by
Ibn Majid rhyming in n —certainly his favourite rhyming letter. It
consists of 13 verses (ff. 157v-158r) on the subject of the Roman
months and is quoted in full in the Fawa'id in the fifth fa'ida.
12. jparibat al-dara3ib. Another rajaz poem in qafida form, con­
sisting of 192 verses (ff. 158r-163r) rhyming in r. It quotes no. 9
and 15 but otherwise is not dated. This poem is important and gives
a complete list of values of different star combinations for fixed
values of the Pole Star.
13. A rajaz poem attributed to the Caliph ‘All b. Abl Talib. It
consists of 48 undated verses (ff. 163r-164v). One verse is quoted in
the Fawa'id (f. 20v).
14. Qafida Makkiya. The Mekkan qafida dealing with sailing to
Mecca and Jidda from various places was written to please the people
of Mecca. It is possible that this poem was written to heal some sort
of breach between Ibn Majid and the people of Mecca, a breach
which may well have inspired Qufb al-DIn’s attack on Ibn Majid
mentioned earlier. The poem consists of 172 verses rhyming in r
(ff. 164v-169v). It is not dated but is closely connected with the
following poem which it quotes and no. 16. Hence is quite likely
earlier than the Fawa'id (and earlier than the Portuguese arrival in
the Indian Ocean).
15. Another rajaz poem, formed as a qafida in r connected with
the previous poem which quotes it by name in the introduction. It