Ibn Battuta
Greatest medieval traveler
Sayings by Ibn Battuta
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.
The Chinese use paper money, which is the strangest thing I have ever seen. A man can carry around his entire wealth in his sleeve!
In Constantinople, I saw a church so large it could hold ten thousand people. The Christians there worship idols, but their buildings are magnificent.
The people of Sumatra eat dogs, which I found disgusting. But when I tried it, it was not so bad.
In the Sahara, I saw a man who claimed to be 350 years old. He looked like a dried-up lizard, but the locals believed him.
The Sultan of Delhi gave me a robe of honor, but it was so heavy with gold that I could barely walk. I sold it the next day.
In Anatolia, I met a dervish who could make himself invisible. Or at least, that's what he claimed. I never saw him do it.
The women of this country are very beautiful, and they are treated with more respect than the men. They are not veiled, and they have no shame.
Among their odious customs is that women do not veil themselves, and they are not ashamed of this. Many of the women I saw were more beautiful than the men.
The women of this country do not cover their heads, and they are not ashamed of this. We saw many of them whose faces were more beautiful than the faces of the men.
In this city, I saw a strange thing. The women do not veil themselves, and they do not show any shame for this.
The women here are beautiful, and they do not veil themselves. This is a strange thing in a Muslim country.
The women of this country are very beautiful, and they do not veil themselves. They are treated with honor and respect.
I saw in this city a strange custom: the women do not veil themselves, and they are not ashamed of this.
The women here are very beautiful, and they do not cover their faces. This is a custom that is not found in other Muslim lands.
Among the customs of the people of this island is that the women do not cover their heads, and they are not veiled.
The women of this country do not veil themselves, and they are not shy. They are very beautiful.
They are a people who do not know how to fight, and they are a cowardly people.
The people of this city are mean and stingy, and they are not generous.
The people of this country are not good, and they are not hospitable.