ABSTRACT
I left Marrākush in the company of the exalted cortèege, that of our master, God strengthen him, and we reached the city of Salā [Sallee], then the city of Miknāsa [Meknes], the wonderful, the green, the brilliant, with orchards and gardens and with plantations of olives surrounding it on all sides. Then we arrived at the capital, Fa's [Fez], God Most High guard it. There I said farewell to our master, God strengthen him, and set out on a journey to the country of the Blacks. I reached the city of Sijilmāsa, a very beautiful city. 1 It has abundant dates of good quality. The city of al~Baṣra is like it in the abundance of dates, but those of Sijilmāsa are superior. The irar kind is unequalled anywhere. 2 Here I stayed with the jurist Abū Muḥammad al-Bushrī, |377 whose brother I had met at Qanjanfū in China. 3 How far apart they are! He treated me with the greatest generosity. Here I bought camels and four months' fodder for them.
