Ibn Battuta — "The women of this land wear veils that cover their entire faces, so I could not …"
The women of this land wear veils that cover their entire faces, so I could not see their beauty.
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More from Ibn Battuta
"I saw a man in this city who had a beard so long that it reached his waist. He was a very respected scholar, but I could not help but chuckle."
"In Mali, I saw a man eat an entire roasted sheep by himself, and then drink a bucket of sour milk. The people there have stomachs like camels."
"The women of this country are very beautiful, and they do not veil themselves. They are treated with honor and respect."
"I was once offered a marriage proposal in this land, but I declined, for the women were too stout, and their customs too different from my own."
"In India, I met a yogi who stood on one leg for twelve years. When I asked why, he said it was to get closer to God. I think he was just mad."
About Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Moroccan Muslim scholar and explorer whose Rihla (travels) covered ~75,000 miles across the Islamic world from Mali to China — the most-traveled person of the medieval world. Closely associated with Marco Polo (his Venetian counterpart, traveling 50 years earlier in the opposite direction). For an intellectual contrast, see medieval European Christian insularity, the sheltered monastic-feudal worldview of 14th-century Latin Christendom — Ibn Battuta's 30-year journey demonstrates that the 14th-century Dar al-Islam was a single intellectual ecosystem from West Africa to Beijing, while medieval Europe was still tribal and parochial. The cleanest 'connectedness vs insularity' contrast in pre-modern history — Battuta could find a familiar Maliki judge in any city from Mali to Sumatra.