Right. I guess those who continued on weren't numerous enough to be called a caravan of their own.Also note that this is a smaller group, the caravan is staying behind in Tripoli.
Right. I guess those who continued on weren't numerous enough to be called a caravan of their own.Also note that this is a smaller group, the caravan is staying behind in Tripoli.
It just dawned on me, when I read this: وهنالك أرادت طوائف العرب الإيقاع بنا that I had totally misunderstood the stuff about Arabs above. I had thought that the Arabs were part of the caravan and were afraid of the bowmen traveling with them, and that God protected the rest of the caravan from the bowmen. What really happened was that the bowmen were protecting the caravan from Arab robbers; the Arabs were afraid of the bowmen and so didn't dare attack the caravan, and God protected the caravan from the Arabs.ثم خرجنا من مدينة قابس قاصدين طرابلس، وصحبنا في بعض المراحل إليها نحو مائة فارس أو يزيد، وكان بالركب قوم رماة فهابتهم العرب، وتحامت مكانهم، وعصمنا الله منهم، وأظلنا عيد الأضحى في بعض تلك المراحل
Dein urbem Tapacas reliquimus Tripolim petentes; per nonnihil itineris comitati sumus centum circiter vel plures homines equitantes, in quibus erant nonnulli sagittarii. Hos verebantur Arabes eosque vitabant, verum Deus nos ab iis protexit. In hoc autem itinere supervenit nobis festum sacrificii.
So had I! It's hard to keep in mind that ibn Battuta then doesn't seem to consider himself as an Arab. I hadn't even realized that until now.It just dawned on me, when I read this: وهنالك أرادت طوائف العرب الإيقاع بنا that I had totally misunderstood the stuff about Arabs above.
I think قدرة here is probably a less frequent synonym of قدر in the sense of destiny, providence, divine decree, etc. So destiny turned them away. I don't see what else قدرة could possibly mean here without a 'possessor' of said قدرة if it is not Allah.وهنالك أرادت طوائف العرب الإيقاع بنا ثم صرفتهم القدرة، وحالت دون ما راموه من أذيتنا
The general idea is that some bands of Arabs wanted to attack them but were not able to and went by without carrying out their plans. What I'm unsure about is how exactly to interpret صرفتهم القدرة. Literally that seems to be saying something like "the power/ability turned them away". Is that an idiomatic expression to say that the ability failed them/they didn't have the ability, or should قدرة be taken as the (apparent) power/strength of Ibn Battutah's group?
I knew he was a Berber. But I thought he might have considered himself as an Arab to some extent (by adoption, perhaps, or culturally, or something like that).It's hard to keep in mind that ibn Battuta then doesn't seem to consider himself as an Arab.
I had never heard of him, but I guess it''s him!ثم توسطنا الغابة، وتجاوزناها إلى قصر برصيصا العابدHm, the castle of this guy, or a castle named after him anyway? Would عابد, literally "worshipper", usually be translated as "ascetic", "hermit", "monk", or something like that?
I think you're right, because I looked it up in Arabic and it saysThe "second application" sounds like it could generally be translated as idololatra.
But I found this and this.
Based on the ending of the first source ("And he [i.e. Shaytan] said that he could save Barsisa, and as long as Barsisa makes sujood to him! Barsisa, out of desperation made Sujood to him") it seems that "worshipper" could mean "worshipper of Satan". But the second source starts with "There was a pious worshipper of the tribe of Israel". So the word could also simply mean a worshipper of God. In either case, it doesn't look like idololatra would do as a translation. The best is perhaps to translate "worshipper" literally even if such an unqualified use sounds unusual.
Though one, since all google searches refer to the dome of Hiroshima...ثم توسطنا الغابة، وتجاوزناها إلى قصر برصيصا العابد، إلى قبة سلام
Any idea what قبة سلام is? I was thinking it might be a place name but I haven't found anything so far.
ثم وصلنا في أول جمادى الأولى إلى مدينة الإسكندرية حرسها الله، وهي الثغر المحروس، والقطر المأنوس، العجيبة الشأن، الأصيلة البنيان
Is it possible for أنس to be transitive in the sense of "to enjoy"? Dictionaries don't say so, but it makes more sense to compare a wonderful city to a rain that one enjoys (or must enjoy) than to a rain that one comforts (or must comfort), or the other transitive senses I've found for that verb.