At times I find myself pondering the realities of people that have crossed lands indefinitely prior to our existence. What had they prioritised in their travels and how had they imagined a world much smaller than what we see today? The stoic will persuade you to visualise the people of the past as idols that have set benchmarks for our discoveries, growth and achievements — in this piece, we reflect on what one could learn from a man with a passion to ride currents of the sea according to the placement of the stars.
Ahmad Ibn Majed, born somewhere in between Ras Al Khaimah and Oman, was a man of the sea in the 15th century. Attributed to him were his publications that have assisted and expanded the study of the sea from principles to methodologies to tools that have changed the way travellers looked at crossing seas indefinitely. An Arab navigator that played a pivotal role in establishing connections between the East and the West by mapping the part of the world he existed in (we could go into discussion about his assistance to Vasco Di Gama and the controversy behind who initially got the Portuguese to India — but that isn’t my current concern).
So, what did this man have that can be of any benefit to our existence today? Other than the fact that half the buildings in Ras Al Khaimah are called Julfar and the vague information we have on his background. A penny for my thoughts and I’d be…confused.
“The Importance of Memory”
As clear cut as this is, it is a common trend among those that follow doctrines. There was a time we ventured into the mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, I remember, where we couldn’t for the love of God remember our path. It was apparent how flawed memory can be. In the next statement, I will discuss the ability to imagine navigation which may contradict the current point. However, the studies of Ibn Majed have reflected three key principles from which he learned while sailing alongside his father which made him The Lion of the Sea. Prior to sending him off on his own at 17, the principles set for him were to perfect his reading and writing, to memorise the Quran and to memorise the books his father gave him about seafaring. Imagine the power of a man that need not waste time digging up a reference but consistently pulling guidance from memory as though his rubric was a recitation. The contents in your head are the contents you are.
“How Navigation Is Imagination”
Having developed the “Kamal”, a device made of wood and calibrated string used to identify the point on the latitude in accordance with the Pole Star’s height in the horizon, he ventured the sea with a backing knowledge of current movements, winds, reefs, shoals, headlands, harbors, seamarks and stars in which he spent a lifetime studying. Putting your thoughts together, when you reflect on the night sky you don’t necessarily know what stars you’re looking at or where they are placed in comparison to your current location. A belief of Ibn Majed’s with his work is the imagination of your reality. To imagine the sea you will cross, the placement of the stars above you and the current that can only be felt — this is what made him a master of his craft.
“The Shooting Star”
…he was named. For his fearlessness, grit, and resilience to take on seas rougher than a human can bare. A reflection of a harsher reality that they must have lived. In link to the earlier statement of the Stoic placing idols of the past as guidance, Ibn Majed may very well be a character that has reflected resilience and knowledge in his time. An indication of innovation and perseverance and what it looked like in times before ours.
The reason we learn about what people have once done and where they have ventured allows us to discover more than we think we can. To think there was once a time where the seas were not discovered like today, or the lands have not been mapped to accuracy, even the language we speak varied — yet they still brought us to today. A globalized world framed and established by stones set before us. This is an ode to all the travellers that have opened the doors to discovery and curiosity and taught us how to wander.
