تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.94.3

13.94.3

words I made obeisance to him and went home and settled the debts I owed. In those days he had given me the furnishings of a house and its equipment of copper vessels and other things; he used to give me whatever I asked, and he loved and honoured me, but his mind was changed and he was made to fear me! When he learned that I had paid off the debt and resolved to travel, he regretted what he had said and delayed giving me leave to travel. I swore the most solemn oaths that I must travel, moved my belongings to a mosque by the sea, and divorced one of my wives. One of them was pregnant, so I set her a term of nine months: if I returned within it [she would remain my wife], otherwise her affairs were in her own hands. I took with me my wife who had been the wife of Sultan Shihāb al-Dīn, to deliver her to her father on the island of Mulūk, and my first wife, whose daughter was the sister of the Sultana. I came to an agreement with the vizier ʿUmar Dahrad and the vizier Ḥasan, commander of the sea, that I would go to the land of Maʿbar, whose king was my brother-in-law, and bring troops from there so that the islands would return to his rule, and I would govern them as his deputy. I arranged a signal between us, the raising of white flags on the ships: when they saw them, they would rise up on land!! I had never entertained such a thought until the change [of feeling] occurred. The vizier was afraid of me and would say to people, "This man is bound to take the vizierate, either in my lifetime or after my death." He kept asking about my doings and would say, "I have heard that the King of Hind has sent him money with which to rise against me." He feared my departure lest I bring armies from the land of Maʿbar, so he sent to me to stay until he fitted out a ship for me, but I refused. The Sultana's sister complained to her about her mother travelling with me; she wished to prevent her but could not! When she saw her determined to travel, she said to her, "All the jewellery you have is from the funds of the port treasury; if you have witnesses that Jalāl al-Dīn gave it to you [keep it], otherwise return it!" It was jewellery of great value, and she returned it to them. The viziers and chief men came to me while I was at the mosque and asked me to return. I said to them, "Had I not sworn, I would return." They said, "Go to one of the islands so that your oath is fulfilled, and come back." I said to them, "Yes," to satisfy them.