تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.80.4

13.80.4

I wanted to go back from Kawlam to the Sultan to inform him of what had befallen the gift, but then I feared he would find fault with what I had done and say: "Why did you leave the gift?" So I resolved to return to Sultan Jamāl al-Dīn al-Hinawrī and stay with him until I learned news of the junk. I went back to Qāliqūṭ and found there some of the Sultan's ships, in which he had sent an Arab amīr known as al-Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan, who was one of the bardadāriyya, that is, the special doorkeepers. The Sultan had sent him with funds to attract whatever Arabs he could from the land of Hurmuz and al-Qaṭīf, because of his love for the Arabs. I went to this amīr and found him intending to spend the winter at Qāliqūṭ and then travel to the land of the Arabs. I consulted him about returning to the Sultan, but he did not agree to it! So I set out by sea from Qāliqūṭ; this was at the end of the sailing season, so we would sail during the first half of the day and then anchor until the next morning. On our way we met four warships and were afraid of them, but they did us no harm! We reached the city of Hinawr, and I went to the Sultan and greeted him. He lodged me in a house; I had no servant. He asked me to perform the prayers with him, so I spent most of my time in his mosque. I used to complete a reading of the Qurʾān every day, and then I would complete it twice a day: I would begin reciting after the dawn prayer and finish at midday, renew my ablution, begin reciting again and finish the second reading at sunset. I continued thus for three months, and spent forty days of that time in retreat (iʿtikāf).