Tahir's Blog

The Casablanca Blues

2010-09-11T10:18:00.002Z

Hello everyone... yes, yes, yes, you couldn't be more right... I've been deeply lazy with my blog. It's been due to travels and the writing I've been doing on a new novel. But I'm hoping to make it up to you with the following link...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/video/2010/sep/09/casablanca-insider-guide-tahir-shah

The City of the Dead

2010-08-16T14:17:00.001Z

Although I'm still in India, I'm listing a link here of an article I wrote about Cairo's amazing cemetery in which zillions of people live...

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100814/TRAVEL/708139911/1087/LIFE

With the Dalai Lama

2010-08-07T08:24:00.002+01:00

Spent the last few days in Dharamsala, northern India. And was lucky enough to have a 45 minute meeting with the Dalai Lama yesterday. We spoke about Tibet, Afghanistan and life. I can't ever remember encountering such a gentle and sincere man.

TS

Raining cats, rats and dogs

2010-08-01T01:34:00.008+01:00

In Mumbai...

Where I can't remember the monsoon fiercer than it was yesterday. Torrents of water cascading down from the graphite sky... waterfalls ripping through the streets, pedestrians wading, pyedogs huddled miserably in doorways, traffic even more gridlock than ever.

How wonderful though to be back in this mesmerising city, one that I have watch change through twists and turns over two decades and more. The place is booming, although every layer of humanity can be found on each street corner. India defies description and sings to the imagination in ways that most countries could only hope to do.

This morning flying up to Delhi with Rachana and the kids... and planning to visit the Taj Mahal. In all the dozens of times I've visited India, I've never been there. In a strange way it all seemed too easy.

Overwhelmed with a childlike excitement.

Qur'an Burning..?

2010-07-27T21:41:00.003+01:00

I'd not usually blog about anything religious, but this caught my eye and I am so amazed and shocked that I thought it deserves attention here. A Florida church group is holding a burning... a book burning. But no ordinary book, but the Qur'an.

It's all over the web, but here's the first link I found:

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2010/07/23/florida-church-to-hold-quran-burning/

The Observer

2010-07-25T11:07:00.001+01:00

There's a piece about me and Dar Khalifa in today's Observer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/jul/25/travel-casablanca-tahir-shah?page=all

Swiss Train

2010-07-24T09:05:00.003+01:00

Two weeks ago I was aboard the fabulous Glacier Express, travelling through the Swiss Alps. I had been asked to write about the experience by Lonely Planet Magazine, and was travelling in the back of the train in the luxury of first class. This morning I heard that the same train went off the rails on a viaduct yesterday. A woman in first class was killed and dozens more injured. As for my article on the virtues of the Swiss transport system... well, I guess it will never now see the light of day. A sad day for Swiss trains and the extraordinary Glacier Express.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10744282

Five Years On

2010-07-22T12:28:00.003+01:00

Five years ago at this moment I was crouched in the corner of a solitary confinement cell at a torture jail in northern Pakistan. My Swedish film crew from Caravan Film and I were arrested a week after the London bombings of July 2005, and held without charge for sixteen days, and nights. In the half-decade that has elapsed since our release, I have found myself turning the experience over and over, looking at it in varying ways, and drawing a myriad of conclusions. It was clear that the system had seized us without quite knowing why and that once they had us, they didn't know how get rid of us. The most obvious thing --just open the cell doors and let us walk out -- never appeared to have occurred to them. My conclusions these days revolve less about our actual experience, and more about what it says in terms of the situation that people like me (one foot in the East and the other in the West) now find themselves in the Post 9/11 world. We can't help but be affected, and be regarded with suspicion -- by both sides. It's a ridiculous position, and one which I might find myself drawing amusement from were the stakes not so high. The thing which still astonishes me is the apparent lack of cultural understanding between the Occidental governments and those of countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan. Certainly, they may have a linguistic commonality, but they both appear (to me, anyway) to have almost no intellectual connection. My experience of this has been first hand, most shockingly when interrogated blindfold and manacled night after night in a Pakistani torture room... and then when received at Heathrow by the British secret services. I'm not trying to make a big point here other than to say that we would all do better to learn much more of each other's culture. Reading each other's literature, study each other's histories, understanding dissimilar etiquettes and so on. Beyond that, I write this in anniversary of those terrifying nights, waiting for the jangling of the keys and for the blindfolds, the signal that I was about to be led back down the long corridor to the torture room.

Pictures of Dar Khalifa

2010-07-18T10:18:00.003+01:00

Here are some pictures taken this last week by an American photographer, Nadia Diboun.

http://www.pixagogo.com/8619904235

You can visit her blog, here:

http://www.nadiadiboun.com/

Casablanca

2010-07-16T09:50:00.000+01:00

I have an article in CNN Traveller...

http://www.cnntraveller.com/2010/07/14/casablanca-morocco’s-melting-pot/

Fragment of Andalucia

2010-07-15T14:42:00.004+01:00

Back from a quick trip to Malaga, in Spain's Andalucia. And if anyone is interested at all, drop everything and check it out. The last time I was there was a million years ago and the city was sleazy and sordid beyond belief. I know because I spent time there when I was twenty... weeks alone waiting for a passport. (I had taken the overnight train from Madrid to Algeciras and while I fell into a deep childlike sleep, a thief stole all my clothes, my passport, all other ID, my camera, money... and my shoes. I guess he had the same size feet. So I was washed up in Malaga, trying to regain my life). It's taken me just over twenty years to venture back there, and what a joy! Malaga is clean... actually it's beyond clean... it's immaculate, and culturally stimulating too, and just so wonderful. So, Go! Go! Go! And the most wonderful thing for me was to search for fragments of Andalucian Spain, which are all around.

Morocco's Buried Pirate Republic

2010-07-03T09:27:00.001+01:00

(This article by me is in today's Financial Times)

Relocate from a cramped flat in east London to a haunted mansion in the middle of Casablanca, and you slip into a Moroccan twilight zone. It’s a world that could have been conjured straight from a child’s imagination – a realm of djinn and dazzling colours, exotic foods and unending possibility.

For six years, while we have been restoring our house and slowly getting to know the country, I have become preoccupied with the Morocco that tourists rarely glimpse, the one that lies just beneath the surface, waiting to be discovered by anyone ready to receive it.

Every day Europe’s budget airlines ferry tourists back and forth, depositing them at the gates of a few key cities – Marrakech, Agadir and Fès. Yet the rest of the kingdom is left largely alone. Stray a little off the beaten track, however, and the rewards can be immediate and quite extraordinary. And, as often happens in Morocco, the greatest treasures are where you expect them least.

I was reminded of this last month when my daughter Ariane, 9½, returned from school begging me to help with her pirate project. She is obsessed with Johnny Depp, and imagines pirates to be bumbling caricatures, not the ruthless killers of today’s African Horn. Googling “Morocco pirates”, she began a treasure trail which led almost from our own door. An hour’s drive up the coast from Casablanca is Morocco’s capital, Rabat. It’s rather staid – orderly traffic, clipped hedges and droves of diplomats. Separated from it by the mouth of the Bou Regreg river, nestled on the windswept Atlantic shore, is Salé. Most Rabatis stick their noses up at their down-at-heel neighbour, regarding the small town as squalid and a waste of time.

I, too, had bought in to the Salé-bashing syndrome. But Ariane insisted I’d got it all wrong. She told a tale of a pirate realm worthy of Jack Sparrow himself, the place where Robinson Crusoe was enslaved in Defoe’s novel. For eight centuries, she said, Salé had been a world centre of looting, pillaging and white slavery. The frenzied debauchery reached its height in the 1600s, under the greatest marauder in Barbary history, the infamous Jan Janszoon.

A Dutch freebooter, and former Christian slave, Janszoon made himself overlord of a pirate republic based at Salé. He waylaid hundreds of ships across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, possibly extending as far as Iceland and the Americas. According to pirate legend, he sired countless children: his descendants are said to include the Marquess of Blandford, Humphrey Bogart and Jackie Onassis.

Intrigued by this curious fragment of international pirate trivia, I bundled Ariane into the car and sped north. Soon we spied the stately skyline of Rabat. Across the estuary, the syrupy yellow light of late afternoon gave a glow to the ancient walls of what was once the republic of Salé. Even from a distance it looked bleak: gnarled volcanic rocks, ominous breakers and wine-dark sea.

Approaching from along the coast, we found ourselves at an immense and ancient burial ground – tens of thousands of graves packed tight together, headstones lost in each other’s shadows. We strolled slowly between them, the chill Atlantic wind ripping in our ears. Ariane said she could imagine the pirates sleeping there, huddled with their treasure maps.

In the middle of the graveyard a fisherman was crouching, holding a long rod, an old paint can filled with fish heads beside him, surrounded by cats. When I asked him about pirates he narrowed his eyes, nodded and pointed to a low fortress at the edge of the cemetery.

Canon at the Sqala, a fortress on the sea wall

The Sqala, as it is known in Arabic, was crafted from honey-coloured stone and built into the crenellated sea wall. Rusted iron cannons still train on the horizon. A policeman was standing outside. He had a weather-worn face, watery eyes and a big toothy grin. Ariane asked him about pirates and, before we knew it, we’d been ushered inside.

He led the way through a cool stone passage and out on to a rounded terrace, bathed in blinding yellow light. There was something magical about the fort, as if it was so real that it was fake, like a Hollywood set. The cannons were lizard-green with verdigris, each one bearing a crest.

“They were obviously captured by pirates,” said Ariane knowledgeably. “If they weren’t, the crests would all be the same.”

Staring out to where the water joined the sky, the policeman suddenly began reciting a poem, apparently about unrequited love. He said there was no better place in all the world to compose poetry than right here, and that poetry was his true love.

I asked if he’d ever heard of Jan Janszoon. He cocked his face to the ground beneath his feet.

“The dungeon,” he said grimly.

We went down jagged steps, along a vaulted corridor bored out from the stone, lit by shafts of light. Home to nests of stray cats, it was damp and smelled of death. The officer showed us a truly miserable cell which looked as though it had been quite recently used. His grin subsiding, he explained that the last prisoner had been forgotten, and had starved to death.

“Was it the famous corsair Jan Janszoon?” I asked.

The policeman shook his head. “For him, you must go to the old city,” he said.

After some sweet mint tea and more poetry, we escaped with directions, scribbled in Arabic, to the home of Jan Janszoon in the maze of the old city.

Living in Morocco, I am no stranger to walled medinas, and have traipsed through dozens of them – often searching for a cryptic address. In that time I’ve learned to be thick-skinned when approached by hustlers laden with tourist wares.

Slipping through the Bab Malka Gate, we prepared ourselves for the usual onslaught of salesmen and mendicants. But it didn’t come. Instead, the silence was so pronounced that we could hear children playing marbles in the labyrinth of lanes. Without waiting for us to ask, one of them led the way to the great mosque.

Built in the 12th-century Almohad style, it is one of Morocco’s greatest treasures and one of the least known. The boy said there were seven doors, one for each day of the week.

Twisting and turning our way down the whitewashed lanes, we found a time-capsule of Moroccan life from a century ago. There were vegetables piled high on carts, and chunks of fresh mutton laid out on fragrant beds of mint; tailors busily sewing kaftans, mattress-makers and carpenters, brocade-sellers, and dyers hanging skeins of wool in the sun. And, rather than any tourists or tourist kitsch, there were local people out shopping, bargaining for underpants and melons, pumpkins, wedding robes and socks.

When Ariane showed the scribbled directions to the marble-playing boy, he led us to a spacious square, the Souq el Gazelle, the wool market. It was packed with people buying and selling used clothes and brightly coloured wool. The boy said it was where slaves had once been sold, having been dragged ashore from captured ships.

Nudging a thumb to the directions, I asked about the home of Jan Janszoon.

The boy beckoned us to follow him.

Winding our way through the Mellah, an old Jewish quarter, the air pungent with kebab smoke and baking macaroons, we reached the crumbling façade of a building. The dressed stone was exposed, ravaged by the elements. A fig tree had taken hold and was growing out from the side, and the studded wooden door was falling to bits. The boy glanced at the scribbled directions and gave a thumb’s up.

Ariane and I stood there in awe. We were on hallowed ground after all – at the home of the greatest pirate in Barbary history. The house lies derelict now, roofless and ramshackle beyond description. The doors have been bricked up, many of the stones pilfered, the magnificent carved masonry shattered. But squint at it in the early evening light and its soul comes alive. Use your imagination and Jan Janszoon is standing at the great door, welcoming you from its frame.

As the muezzin called the prayer, his voice singing out over the tiled rooftops of old Salé, I whispered thanks to Janszoon and to his band of marauding corsairs. Through a special conjuring of Moroccan magic, the Dutch buccaneer had lured us through a keyhole into his own pirate realm, the Moroccan twilight zone, where nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Tahir Shah is the author of ‘The Caliph’s House’, about his move with his family to Casablanca, and ‘In Arabian Nights’

.................................

Details

Where to stay

The Riad Albahaca is an unexpected delight, a traditional riad with rooms looking out over the Atlantic (doubles from €100).

Shopping

Shopping in Salé is wonderful and geared to locals not tourists: hunt out baboush slippers and kaftans and golden wedding crowns. Shops close after lunch, then stay open late into the night.

Dining

Dive in at the deep end and eat a tajine at one of the hole-in-the-wall places in the Mellah.

Back to Reality

2010-07-02T19:16:00.007+01:00

There can be nothing quite so realistic as arriving back to Morocco from Switzerland. And I must tell you that, while I enjoyed my travels in the clockwork country, it's Morocco's own blend of harmony that I cherish beyond all else. This evening, as I rushed to a meeting, hoping to avoid the Friday chaos on the roads, I slipped down a one way street... the wrong way. Unfortunately for me, the police happened to be coming up the street, in the correct direction. I had a jab of panic... thought of Swiss authority... The policeman looked at me all nervous and sweating. He raised an eyebrow. I spun out a story about deadlines and an angry wife who became ever angrier on Fridays, especially when her husband has been locked up for misdemeanors. The officer burst out laughing, shook my hand boisterously, and redirected the traffic, to allow me to continue up the one way street, the wrong way.

Thank god for the real world. Thank god for Morocco.

Sleeping in Straw

2010-06-26T06:51:00.002+01:00

I'm travelling through the Swiss Alps, to make an article for Lonely Planet Magazine. Last night slept in a barn in straw... What culture shock being in this green, green valley... especially after Casablanca.

Living on the Edge

2010-06-22T11:02:00.008+01:00

Two years ago our guardian, Osman, whom we inherited with the house, decided he'd chop down a tree in the garden. The axe wasn't sharp, and so he took the angle grinder (a bright yellow tool he and the others had begged me to buy for them months before), and he went to work. Holding the axe in one hand and the grinder in the other, he attempted to put a blade on the hatchet. All must have gone well for a moment because in my subconscious I heard the whirring of metal. But then catastrophe struck. I was outside the house at the time, about to bundle the kids into my car for a little cruising down near the Corniche. It was then that one of the other guardians emerged. His face was white and he moved so fast that he seemed to glide through the air. 'Osman's cut his hand,' he said nervously. I frowned, told him where to find band-aids in the house. He shook his head, then blinked. A stray tear rolled down the edge of his face. At that moment Osman came jarring through the garden door. He was in shock. His hand was hanging off. We moved into slow motion, like one of those cheesey 1970s movies where second rate slomo was still acceptable. I looked at the wound. Then my knees went. It's not like in the movies... not even those '70s flicks. What struck me was the detail. The grinder disk had sliced across the width of the hand, at right angles to the fingers, sawing through all the bones, tendons, muscles and sinew, until it reached what looked like his palm the other side. The tendons had bunched up near the base of the fingers, a detail I had never imagined. I pulled him into the car, blood squirting. He was pressing down with an old sheet of leather he'd picked up. And on that drive out through the shantytown at high speed, he fazed in and out of consciousness. I won't go into the highs and lows of the days, weeks and months that followed. Not here anyway. Except to sat that the lowest low was when I thought he had died of blood loss on the back seat, and when all the surgeons suggested he go for straight amputation. (We found the best hand surgeon in North Africa and, after footing colossal bills, and dropping everything for eight months, had the hand fixed on and working again). And that was the highest high... seeing Osman fluttering his fingers again, after more physiotherapy sessions than I can remember. I should add to this that three weeks before this dreadful accident,Osman's mother and father and brother and nephew were all killed when their communal taxi struck another car at night in fog on a coast roast south of Casablanca. They were en route to pay their respects to a relative who had lost her husband in an accident. And their taxi was on the wrong side of the road. Why recount it all here, today? Well, it's because as I got to my desk a few moments ago I saw Osman in the courtyard outside. He is standing there now, on a ladder propped again a towering palm tree. The base of the ladder is jammed against an old milk crate. And the crate is askew on a jumble of tangled wires and rocks, stuff that no one could be quite bothered to move. As I watch, Osman has climbed to the highest rung. He's right up there now, his expression calm but a little tense like an amateur tightrope-walker trying his luck. As he stretches his right arm way to the side to reach the furthest branch, I close my eyes, take a breath, and pray for him.

Washington Post Review Today

2010-06-20T18:05:00.000+01:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/18/AR2010061802806.html

My Greatest Friend

2010-06-18T15:25:00.004+01:00

Dar Khalifa is large, spread out, encircled by gardens and, beyond them, girdled by the shantytown. Very often, I scoop up a clutch of random people and drag them home to eat. Few things excite me more than seating half a dozen strangers around the dining table for good food and lively conversation. Rachana (whom I already said insists I have no spam filter on my friends) doesn't quite understand my craving for people. I think it's a family thing, ie from my family, something I must have acquired from my father. Just like him, I can't help myself but collect people... the stranger the better. So, often, the house is full of voices, the sound of cutlery clattering on plates, and glasses clinking together. And, on those days and nights, I am content. But then, on afternoons like today, when I am home alone, I feel something different, equally pleasing. It's perhaps my greatest Moroccan friendship of all... the one I share with Dar Khalifa itself. This house is not quite like other houses. You see, it's magical, the kind of place conjured from a child's imagination. It's made from stone, quarried nearby, and it feels alive... as if it knows I'm inside. Right now I am in the library, staring out at the riad, the courtyard garden, where tortoises amble slowly through the shade. And I am thankful, most of all to my great friend, Dar Khalifa, for touching our lives with magic... the kind only Morocco knows.

Full Spectrum People

2010-06-16T08:20:00.001+01:00

I know a lot of people.

Of course some of them are close friends, others are just friends, and others still, merely acquaintances. But I know them all the same. Most of the time I keep my friends and acquaintances in niches. They're divided and subdivided. And often when we invite people over to Dar Khalifa I spend a moment calculating that everyone will get on. Rachana says that I have no 'spam filter' on my friends, that I attract weirdos. It's true, well at least in part. I like people who will provide a different slant on life, a curve ball kind of a person, one who'll get you to THINK 360 about something. But at the same time there's something I value very highly, probably higher than anything else. It is the ability to be at ease and comfortable with anyone. I call this Full Spectrum, and I know remarkably few Full Spectrum People. How many friends can you take into the shantytown for lunch, and then straight after to an embassy dinner? And don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that an embassy dinner's somehow better than a bidonville lunch, because it certainly is not, and it explains why we're found in the shantytown far more often than at a swish evening out. But this capacity to mix with anyone and everyone is something I hold very dear, and something I wish more people had...

Riches in Afghanistan

2010-06-15T11:49:00.004+01:00

Four years ago I travelled back and forth to Afghanistan on my quest to search for the hidden treasure of Ahmed Shah Durani. The great golden hoard, that originated in Mughal India, is valued today at about $500 billion. The thought of the treasure kept me going through days and nights of considerable hardship, and during the sixteen days I spent along with my film crew in a Pakistani torture jail. I would find myself thinking how a treasure such as this, an absolutely immense sum, could help rebuild Afghanistan. Never could I imagine that the shattered country of my ancestors might be given another opportunity to realise extraordinary wealth. But, it seems that it is... The New York Times reported June 13th, of colossal mineral reserves in Afghanistan, worth as much as $1 trillion. That makes the treasure of Ahmed Shah pale in comparison. The question, of course, is where any of it will ever be mined and if any other funds will reach those who need help. The NYT article can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?emc=eta1

Thesiger

2010-06-11T08:51:00.002+01:00

Last week marked the 100th birth anniversary of Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who's often called the last of the 'Victorian' Gentlemen explorers. In the last years of his life we became close friends, or rather he was a mentor, the man who advised me to shun a conventional life. His spirit goes on, and I miss him. I just had a piece published about our friendship. You can find it here:http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100605/TRAVEL/706049906/1087/LIFE

Such a great documentary

2010-06-10T08:21:00.000+01:00

Almost twenty-five years ago a family friend mentioned a documentary to me in passing. It was about an American Evangelist Preacher who blew the lid off the corrupt Evangelists world (I'm not saying all Evangelists are corrupt, but some seemed to be, at least then). And with the power of the internet I found the documentary yesterday, and I whooped for joy. You can download it for free. It's about MARJOE GORTNER. There's a page on him on Wikipedia. The film is quite amazing. he's got extraordinary presence, natural charisma. See what you think. Follow the link here (I simply pressed 'download' and it came down pretty fast):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-178629120699935619&ei=DknNSemoOI24_AGuv4zXAg&q=Marjoe&client=firefox-a#

Oh My, Oh My...

2010-06-09T08:08:00.004+01:00

It's just how I am... in a word it's obsessive. I can't help myself. Always been like this and as the years slip by my obsession needle seems to arc forward a little more every day. When I started blogging I wrote masses and masses (if you haven't, please please please have a look at my older posts)... but then I got obsessed with other stuff and the blog obsession waxed and waned. Then of course there's the be dreaded crisis which has hit poor happy go lucky writers hard. My friends with proper lives and real salaries would hear me wax lyrical about the writer's freedom, his teflon-coatedness. Ooops. Well it all sounded good at the time. Then I wrote a biiiiiig novel and have been waiting to be paid for that for a very very long time. The great pipeline of work dried as I spent all my time editing the novel and talking about it (talking is something I do a lot of... something that irritates the people around me and pays nothing at all). Well, I'm rambling now. Rambling has generally increased recently, as I try to explain to anyone and everyone I meet just why impecuniousness is my new middle name. So, after weeks and even months of feeling glum, I'm cranking out work again. I like to think of myself as a short order chef who's got ten pots and pans on the burners, and he's juggling them. I'm in my element when juggling pots. And the greatest thing of all is that the dark days of dire uncertainty got me thinking... got me back on the knife edge on which all writers should live. I'm going to write this blog as often as I can but I'm not going to do it every day... hopefully every week. And the entries may be short... half a line or a single word. Because it's all about staying in touch. To anyone who checked my blog in the last months, gawd bless ya!, and thank you sooooo sooooo sooooo much for following my work. You have no idea at all how much it means to me. TS

Travelling

2009-05-19T13:28:00.002Z

Greetings to anyone reading this. I'm due to start a gruelling trip over to the West Coast, over to Europe and down here to Africa again. Just want to say that I'll take a few days rest from the blog and be up and running again as soon as I can.

Still to be Translated...

2009-05-18T08:18:00.000Z

There are far more Arabic manuscripts in existence from medieval Islam than from the Roman and Greek world. Thousands of Arabic texts are still un-translated, lying in archives and libraries across the West and the East. Such as Al-Kindi’s treatise on frequency analysis, which was first located a few years ago in Ottoman archives in Istanbul. These documents are regarded as historical, and are valued for the antiquity, but are not studied for their own merit. What a great shame that is.

The End Game

2009-05-17T06:15:00.000Z

The grandson of Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, set out for Baghdad in 1257 with a vast army. The Caliph refused to surrender, and enraged the Mongol leader with threats and taunting. Worse still, he hadn’t strengthened the city walls or prepared for a siege, perhaps believing his own publicity that his capital was impregnable. As a result victory was swift (the siege was less then two weeks).

Baghdad was sacked and burned to the ground. The waters of the Tigris supposedly ran black with ink for months from all the ink, from the House of Wisdom and other great libraries, which were hurled into the river.

The Caliph was rolled up in a rug and the Mongols rode their horses over him. So great was the stench of death and decay that Hulagu had to move his camp upwind of the city.

Inventions II

2009-05-16T07:14:00.000Z

1. Windmills were first described by Persian geographer Estakhri in the ninth century. They were used to grind corn and draw up water and looked different from European ones. The technology is thought to have arrived in Europe through Islamic Spain.

2. The first hydro-powered water supply system was developed by al-Jaziri in Damascus – driven by gears and hydro-power – to supply water to the city’s mosques and hospitals. Fès had a similar system which worked until relatively recently. Hydro-power was used to power paper mills and all sorts of other devices.

3. Water wheels called Norias were developed for feeding water into aqueducts. The newly-invented crankshaft was added, and the technology was constantly refined.

4. As well as crankshafts, Arab engineers devised flywheels, chain pumps, gearing systems, suction pumps, and automata.

5. The greatest engineer of the era was without doubt al-Jazari, whose breakthroughs in the twelfth century can still be found around us today. His masterwork was the Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. He developed the first automatic gates, run on hydro-power, water clocks, and machines which looked like people and would serve cold drinks. He invented the flush mechanism found in most of our toilets, and even a musical robot band.

Inventions

2009-05-15T08:11:00.001Z

I have already mentioned in passing a number of Arab inventions from the Golden Age. They include a wide range of medical, chemical and astronomical devices. But there are whole other areas in which the Arabs inventors excelled.

Arab engineers learned from the Romans, Greeks and from their own scientists, and came up with creations that demonstrated their astonishing ingenuity. Some of these creations improved living conditions, while others were more whimsical.

Engineers were hugely important. When the tenth century Persian engineer and polymath, Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen), reached Cairo, the Caliph himself went to the gates to greet him. He had been invited to regulate the flooding on the Nile. It soon dawned on him that he couldn’t solve the problem. The only way to save his neck was to feign madness and live for years under house arrest… biding his time until the Caliph’s own death.

Mathematics

2009-05-14T07:21:00.000Z

As Astronomy developed so in tandem did mathematics and geometry. The great Arab polymaths changed the world in which live by their mastery of mathematics.

1. Without doubt the most important breakthrough was the language of mathematics: the introduction of ‘Arabic’ numerals from India, and their use for the first time of a decimal point.

2. Introducing Zero to mainstream mathematics was the other massive breakthrough: so enormous that we can hardly grasp its importance… the idea of representing nothing with a symbol.

3. In the ninth century Persian polymath al-Khwarizmi gave us Algorithms, which form the basis of most computer programming… indeed our word ‘Algorithm’ is derived from his name.

4. Al-Khwarizmi is credited with writing the first book on Algebra as well. It’s title was The Compendious Book on calculation by Completion and Balancing, and was published about 820 AD.

5. Arab mathematics honed the work of the Greeks, the Romans as well as that of South Asia. And this work was channelled directly into Europe through Islamic Spain and, with time, made available to the great minds of the Renaissance.

Geography

2009-05-13T08:18:00.000Z

The lightning spread of Islam by the eighth century – from Iberia to modern Afghanistan and beyond, led to a huge reappraisal of geography. New information was flooding into research centres in Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus, Cordoba and elsewhere, and new technology (such as quadrants and astrolabes) was used to create ever-more accurate maps.

The greatest was Al-Idrisi’s twelfth century atlas, prepared for the Norman King Roger II of Sicily (in 1154 AD), incorporated Africa, Europe, Asia minor, India and the known stretches of the Far East. It was the first atlas of its kind and took 18 years to produce.

Astronomy II

2009-05-12T08:15:00.001Z

The corrections and original breakthroughs in astronomy were eventually absorbed into the works of Copernicus and the Renaissance astronomers. The greatest Arab achievements in the fields included:

1. The Arabs distinguished between astronomy and astrology for the first time. And astrology was regarded as a key science by the Abbasids.

2. Milky Way: Al-Biruni (Persian astronomer 11^th century) proposed that the Milky Way was a collection of nebulous stars.

3. Ibn Bajjah (Avempace, 12^th c.) concluded that the Milky Way was a vast collection of stars but appeared to be a continuous entity, because of the effect of refraction in the Earth’s atmosphere. It wasn’t until 1610 that Galileo studied the Milky Way with a telescope and discovered it was composed of a huge number of faint stars.

4. Arab astronomy developed numerous pieces of equipment for measuring angles, such as quadrants… and importantly, astrolabes. These were used for measuring the distance of celestial bodies above the horizon, as well as in determining latitude.

Astronomy

2009-05-11T09:12:00.002Z

Unlike Chemistry and the life sciences, the Arab quest for the physical sciences came about partly through a need for accurate information… information that related to the Islamic faith. It was necessary to know when to begin and end Ramadan, and when to pray, and in which direction (to Mecca).

Mosques often had their own astronomer, a muqqawit, to determine the time for prayer. They had their own observatories as well. Calendars of prayer times and Ramadan dates, Eid etc were vital, and were created through a knowledge of astronomy. They also had elaborate astronomical charts and instruments for determining the most fortuitous moment to begin a battle or to set out on a journey. All this knowledge in turn fuelled breakthroughs in mathematics, geometry, and geography.

The Abbasids based their research principally on the works of Ptolemy and the work of the seventh century Indian mathematician-astronomer Brahmagupta. The key breakthrough of the Arabs in astronomy was in correcting longstanding errors in the Ptolemaic system. A number of the great Arab polymaths turned their hands to the field, seemingly effortlessly.

Chemistry II

2009-05-10T08:44:00.001Z

Some of the breakthroughs in chemistry under the Abbasids:

1. Distillation equipment (such as alembic apparatus, stills and retorts) allowed for alcohol (ethanol) to be distilled for the first time (which was used for perfume and sterilization, rather than drinking). Rosewater was also made through distillation.

2. Kerosene was was distilled from petroleum by al-Razi in ninth century Baghdad. He described the process in Kitab al-Asrar, The Book of Secrets. Kerosene was used in lamps. Other petrol products were known and used. The streets of Baghdad were paved with tar in the eighth century. And Arab scientists first distilled crude oil to create what we know as petrol.

3. Other processes developed and refined, included crystallization, filtration, and steam distillation.

4. Strong acids were created for the first time, including nitric, hydrochloric, and sulphuric acid (the ancients had only had vinegar).

5. Other elements were discovered, such as arsenic and antimony, and chemical elements were clearly divided into categories and studied.

6. Soap was manufactured for the first time; and even glue was made from cheese… a secret recipe described in ibn Hayyan’s (Gerber) The Book of the Hidden Pearl.

7. Cosmetics were also developed, including those by the fabulous-sounding ‘Ziryab’ ‘The Blackbird’, a former Persian slave, who is credited with inventing toothpaste. The idea caught on like wildfire. He went on to open a beauty parlour in Andaucian Spain and supposedly pioneered underarm deodorants and the chemical removal of unwanted body hair for women.

8. Other inventions were far less whimsical and were snapped up by the military… including potassium nitrate (saltpetre) which enabled a complete recipe for gunpowder (tenth century). Gunpowder had been made and discussed for a long time, but the first book dedicated to it was written in the thirteenth century by Hasan al-Rammah, entitled The Book of Military Horsemanship and Ingenious War Devices.

Chemistry

2009-05-09T14:42:00.000Z

Modern chemistry may owe more to Islamic science than just about any other area. Its very name of course is derived from al-kemia, the word for alchemy.

Although alchemy was very important, and had come to the Arabs from both India and the Roman Empire, we now understand increasingly how many Arab scientists refuted the belief in transmuting base metals into gold.

Arab breakthroughs in chemistry are plentiful, and were aided by new scientific practice, as we have seen. Tomorrow we'll look at some of the various that were championed under the Abbasids.

Knock on effect...

2009-05-08T08:21:00.000Z

Understandings in our environment and the natural world allowed for breakthroughs in agriculture. These included areas such as pollination, pesticides, irrigation, grafting, crop rotation and soil preparation, as well as the classification of plants. Works such as those by the thirteenth century Andalucian botanist al-Baitar, were used in Europe for centuries to come. His masterwork listed 1400 plants (300 discovered by himself). His writings were translated into Latin and kept in print until 1758, and used until the start of the nineteenth century. Breakthroughs in water technology and hydraulics meant that regions which had been barren could be irrigated, and man could control his environment in ways that had never been possible.

Evolution

2009-05-07T08:04:00.000Z

Theories of evolution were widespread across the Islamic world by the 12^th century. One of the pioneers of this thinking was Al-Jahiz, who was working in ninth century Baghdad. He wrote about the idea of the environment on an animal, and the animal’s chances of survival based on the environment; as well as writing on what he called ‘the struggle for existence’, a forerunner of Darwin’s ‘natural selection’.

Al-Jahiz also described the idea of food chains were first described, and the concept of nature versus nurture.

Medical Breakthroughs

2009-05-06T07:52:00.000Z

Medical breakthroughs and developments during this golden age are too extensive to list here. But they included:

1. The first inoculations against smallpox.

2. The existence of micro-organisms, especially bacteria, centuries before the invention of the microscope.

3. Dentistry, and pioneering work on dental fillings (although god help some of the patients, for example, Ibn Sina suggested that arsenic be boiled in oil and used to fill teeth!).

4. Caesarean sections and pain control.

5. Antiseptics – from tenth century purified alcohol (an Arab discovery itself) was being applied with lint dressings to wounds.

6. Cataract surgery, which used the first hollow metallic hypodermic needles and glass suction tubes in about 1000 AD.

7. Hundreds of steel medical tools, such as scalpels, were pioneered (a result of sword-making breakthroughs, Damascene steel).

8. The first psychiatric hospital, built in Baghdad in 705 AD.

9. Music Therapy, including 10^th century Persian music theorist al-Farabi, whose book Meanings of the Intellect, discussed the effect of music on the soul.

10.And for the first time specific diseases were isolated and studied, including diabetes, meningitis, and cancer, as well as rabies, smallpox, and forms of plague.

Medicine

2009-05-05T08:59:00.001Z

During the Abbasids' Golden Age, the first true hospitals were created, including free public ones in Baghdad and elsewhere in the region. The main difference from the ‘sleep temples’ and asylums of the Classical era was that these hospitals were designed to treat and heal, rather than merely to isolate the infected and the sick. The idea was something of a revolution within itself, and later spread to Europe, along with pharmacology, taken back West by the Crusaders.

These hospitals featured competency tests for doctors and surgeons, grading for purity and strength of pharmaceuticals, and separate wards for people with similar contagious diseases, as well as the first real autopsies. Patients from different religions were treated, and the surgical staff were Christians and Jews as well as Muslims. There were female doctors and nurses for the first time as well.

The rise in cheap paper and literacy meant that everything could be written down and passed to other cities along the pilgrimage routes, for others to master. Great books were amassed from all the new knowledge. These eventually found their way into Europe and were translated into Latin… although only the Latin-speaking elite could understand them. They included pioneering works like the 30-volume medical encyclopaedia, the ‘Kitab al-Tasrif’, (The Book of Concessions), written by al-Zahrawi, and published in the year 1000 AD. It was used for centuries in both East and West.

And Ibn Sina’s The Canon of Medicine (c. 1020 AD), is still regarded as one of the most important medical textbooks of all time. It was used at the University of Montpellier’s medical department as late as 1650 AD, and was even used across until even later China.

Dozens of Renaissance and later medical breakthroughs had already been accurately described by the Arab polymaths. Blood circulation, for instance, usually credited to the 17^th century English physician, had been published by Ibn al-Nafis in the 13^th century.

Peer Review

2009-05-04T07:09:00.000Z

Peer Review was first described by al-Rahwi, working in Damascus in the ninth century AD. In his ‘The Ethics of the Physician’, he states that the physician must always make duplicate notes of a patient’s condition on every visit. He said this was important so that when the patient has been discharged or has died, one set of notes can be given to a local medical council, to ascertain whether satisfactory medical care was provided. It was the start of lawsuits for medical malpractice... something that many a legal service may have wish was never invented at all.

Scientific Method

2009-05-03T06:02:00.000Z

Scientific Method includes the use of controlled experimentation, and the idea of quantifying results, to distinguish between competing scientific theories. What’s interesting is that this scientific method took off in a big way and was used across the board, and is still used by all scientists today.

The first ‘modern’ medical experiment is known to have been carried out by al-Razi in the tenth century, when he was working out where to build his hospital in Baghdad. He hung pieces of meat all over the city and observed where the meat decomposed least quickly. It was there that he built the hospital.

Polymaths

2009-05-02T08:00:00.000Z

Just like the Classical world before and the so called Renaissance Men after, the golden age of Islam was championed by polymaths, whose works rival those of Aristotle, Da Vinci or Newton.

The Arab polymaths arrived in the Renaissance under their Latinised names. For example,

1. Ibn Sina was Avicenna

2. Ibn Bajjah was Avempace

3. Ibn Hayyan was Geber

4. Ibn Rushd was Averroes

5. Al-Kindi was Alkindus

6. Ibn al-Haytham was Alhazen

They were so important because they used breakthroughs in one area to push forward knowledge and understanding in another. Indeed, ‘Polymathy’ is a method that has almost been lost in the West, and is only now being rediscovered – so called ‘interdisciplinary’ study. (e.g. Stanford University’s new Bio-X Program, which brings together biologists, computer scientists, medical scientists and engineers, who learn from each other’s fields). The scientists and Polymaths from the golden age worked on areas of science which are familiar to us all, and are still being studied in schools and universities today, with the same scientific method.

Correcting Misconceptions

2009-05-01T07:57:00.000Z

The Arab polymaths corrected a great deal of Classcial misconceptions, e.g. the Greek idea that light is emitted from the eye. The 10^th century physicist al-Haytham (Latinised to Alhazen) correctly stated that light bounces off an object in straight lines before striking the eye. He developed for first camera obscura – which centuries later enabled photography. Alhazen first devised the ‘method of proof’ too, stating that theories had to be verified in practice, a key element from modern science practice, which was missing from the classical world. Abbasid scientists also introduced what we would call peer review and academic citations, unknown before their time.

Translations

2009-04-30T15:52:00.002Z

A huge number of Classical texts no longer exist in their original Greek or Latin, and were brought to the Renaissance through the Arabic. The Abbasids drew from Greek and Roman classics, as well as the classical Persian, Turkic and Indian sources. In this way, information on subjects such as Zero, came to the Arabs (from the Indian subcontinent). Such breakthroughs led to a snowballing effect, with problems of mathematics, physics and so on that were uncrackable before, being solved for the first time.

The House of Wisdom was at first essentially a translation house and giant library. Then gradually it turned into a think-tank, which built on the foundations of earlier cultures, and welcomed Christians and Jews as well as Muslims to study.

Vast Libraries

2009-04-29T19:55:00.002Z

Magnificent libraries were made possible by the price of cheap paper, and by the growing literacy because people were required to read and write the Qur'an. An example was the Royal library in 10^th century Cordoba, assembled under the patronage of Caliph al-Hakim II, which boasted 400,000 books. The library’s directory stretched to 44 huge ledgers. Caliph al-Hakim II sent scholars across the East to buy and have copied important books, and in so doing, added to the expansion of knowledge. The library at Cairo supposedly had two million volumes; and the one at Tripoli had three million, before it was destroyed by Crusaders. We can only imagine the extent of the House of Wisdom’s great library before it was sacked. It must have run into the millions of documents as well. It is said that when it was sacked in 1258 by the Mongol Horde, that the Tigris ran black with ink for six entire months.

The Starting Point

2009-04-28T08:07:00.001Z

The point where I want to begin the story is the moment at which paper -- that most magical aids to the spread of learning -- was acquired by the Arabs. The second of the two great Islamic Caliphates, the Abbasids, ruled from 750 AD (after overthrowing the Umayyads), with their capital at Baghdad -- having moved from the Umayyad capital of Damascus. Baghdad in the ninth century, a city of 800,000 souls, second city in the world to only Constantinople. It was ruled by the Abbasid Caliph Harun ar-Rachid.

The mixture of people in the city, from so many cultures – Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and Central Asia – created a blend of cultures as it had never really been known before. And they could all communicate through Arabic, the lingua franca of Islam, all equal under this new faith.

Harun, who’s known more for his Alf Layla wa Layla, ‘1001 Nights’, set about accumulating books in huge a private library. He loved poetry, music, learning. Whenever he heard of learned people, he invited them to his court. The idea of wisdom being rewarded spread, and scholars made their way from the corners of the growing Islamic world to Baghdad.

In March 809 Harun ar-Rachid was succeeded by his son Al-Amin, (but he was killed four years later, in 813, after going against the order of succession left by his father). His half-brother, al-Ma’mun, became Caliph, and it’s with him that our story really begins...

Like his father, Ma’mun was fascinated by learning, and was eager to know how the world and the universe worked. He built up the library founded by his father, and brought together scholars from every corner of the world, from known every religion, speaking every language. He dispatched messengers to bring to Baghdad every book, document, and sensible man in existence… and bring it back to his centre of learning, which became known as Bayt al Hikma... The House of Wisdom.

The Arab Contribution

2009-04-27T13:30:00.002Z

In the sciences, the Arabs took Classical work and breakthroughs and refined them, as well as developing their own fields of study from scratch. Their contribution was profound, and is often sidelined or completely forgotten in the Occident. And very often it was centuries ahead of its time. For example: The Arabs under the Abbasids and others constructed the first hospitals and lending libraries, gave the first academic degrees, and treated mental patients with music (more than a millennia before our idea of music therapy); they invented the fountain pen (because a tenth century Sultan wanted a pen that would write when he was ready), the camera obscura, water clocks, hydraulics, decryption of codes, and soap.

They wrote about the concept of evolution, environmentalism, classification (mineral, animal, vegetable), scientific method and peer review… and refined all sorts of other things that are so key to our world, like paper as we have seen, the ‘Indian numbers’, and the massive mathematical breakthrough of ZERO.

They made contributions in almost all the sciences: mathematics, botany, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, engineering, physics, agriculture, astronomy, metallurgy, medicine and zoology.

Misinformation

2009-04-26T09:46:00.002Z

Western society tends to believe that the scientific and cultural bedrock upon which it sits was a product of the Classical world, most notably of the Romans and the Greeks. At our schools, teachers rant on about Latin etymology, and about Euclid, Pythagoras, Plato and Aristotle. But in our obsession for those empires, we blinker ourselves to the full picture, of how the two Classical civilizations arrived at our doors. The knowledge of the Romans and the Greeks passed through a matrix, a system that honed them and gave them shape, like a swordsmith giving edge to a blade.

The general idea that's been commonly believed is that the fall of the Roman Empire (in 476 AD), was followed by centuries of darkness, until the blinding light of the European Renaissance. And during that era of darkness, there was no important scholarship, no learning, no breakthroughs in their desert of darkness.

It was almost a thousand years when nothing really happened at all.

But then the Renaissance, the rebirth of learning, was constructed solely on the classical cultures.

Nothing could be farther from the truth…

Paper

2009-04-25T13:14:00.002Z

One of the things I love about the study of history is how a small event changes the lives of everyone, and dramatically alters the world in which we live. A great example of this began in the year 751 AD, when a fledgling Abbasid force met that of the Chinese Tang Dynasty on the Talas River. The Chinese were superior as a fighting machine, and were expected to win the battle. But on the day, it was the Muslims who defeated the Chinese. The important point of story is that the Muslims captured a number of Chinese and took them prisoner. Among them, was a group of experts in papermaking. The Muslims took them to the city of Samarkand, where they forced them to build a papermaking factory. The technology was completely unknown in Europe at the time, and had been a closely guarded secret in China. Eventually, the Abbasids had another papermaking factory built at Baghdad using the Tang knowhow. And with this technology they could begin the extraordinary accomplishments in science for which they became so celebrated.

With paper, and the knowledge of writing which was so key to read the Qur'an, the Muslims were able to write books, detailing their breakthroughs in the evolving sciences. And they could now pass these books east and west along the ever-growing pilgrimage routes, centred at the holy city of Mecca. It was in its own way a kind of primitive Internet, made possible by the secret knowledge of paper, acquired on a distant battlefield in 751.

All Change

2009-04-24T20:06:00.002Z

The kind of miracles often performed by Indian Godmen rely on a knowledge of chemicals, physics, and the environment, a kind of layer of information which many of us take for granted. Just as I am fascinated by the illusions conjured by these Godmen, I am also deeply interested in the science that makes them possible. Or, rather, I'm preoccupied by the history of that science, and how it came about.

Over the next few days, I'm going to write some notes -- nothing too heavy -- on how the science we all rely on every day (the very same that the Godmen rely on too) came to us all through Arab society, predominantly from the Abbasid era. I have touched on this before in my blog, by have long wanted to devote a little more time to it, so excuse me while I indulge myself...

How to Stick Needles in an Inflated balloon

2009-04-23T08:50:00.000Z

You will need: One balloon, some needles or pins, a roll of scotch tape

I once met a Godman in Calcutta who was using a book of children's conjuring and illusion to create miracles. The book he had in his possession was printed in 1931, and I'm not sure if this miracle was in there, but it might well have been. It's a schoolboy's favourite.

You take the balloon, blow it up, and stick one-inch bits of scotch tape in various places. Then, when the audience have turned up, and mustering theatrical flair, you ease the needles into the places where you have put the tape. The tape seals and rubber, and the balloon doesn't burst.

How to Set Sawdust Alight with Spit

2009-04-22T08:57:00.000Z

You will need: very dry sawdust, powdered sodium peroxide

So many common Godmen miracles are based on fire, and this is a good example, as it's cheap and easy to do. The Godman just needs to find a supply of sodium peroxide which, in India, is relatively easy, as chemicals are readily sold without any questions being asked.

the method involves the powdered sodium peroxide being mixed in with the sawdust before the performance. Before going on show, the Godman takes a big sip of water and, when he's sitting in front of his audience, he spits the water out nearby on the sawdust. The chemical reaction of the sodium peroxide and the water causes fire, which combusts the sawdust.

NB: Godmen's miracles such as this should not be attempted by children, or by anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Set Drying Clothes Alight

2009-04-21T09:35:00.002Z

You will need: Yellow or white phosphorous in a solution of carbon disulphide (ration 1:6)

Pour a little of the solution on the clothes just before the audience assemble, and a few minutes later the clothes will spontaneously catch fire as the solution dries and ignites.

NB Godmen's miracles such as this should never be attempted by children or anyone else, except for trainee godmen.

How to Stop the Pulse

2009-04-20T08:13:00.004Z

You will need: one lime

The best godman miracles require simple props, the kind that are available anywhere... an excellent example is stopping the pulse, an old favourite. The audience gathers around, the godman sitting in the lotus position before them. He closes his eyes and slows his breathing. A member of the crowd is called forward to take his pulse. As his fingers press on the wrist of the holy man, the pulse gradually reduces and then fades away completely. The trick is as simple as the prop. The lime has been secreted in the armpit. As the godman presses down on the lime, it itself presses on the artery that runs down the arm, stopping the pulse.

NB Godmen's miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone except for trainee godmen.

How to Cut the Skin With a Knife

2009-04-19T10:02:00.000Z

You will need: Ferric chloride, sodium sulphocyanide, a knife

Rub the solution of Ferric chloride on the arm or the hand, where you will be cutting, and then dig the knife in the solution of sodium sulphocyanide, and motion as if you are carving with the knife. Crimson-coloured streaks will become visible where the knife blade has come in contact with the skin. Once you have finished the routine, wipe the affected skin clean and wash with soap.

NB Godmen's miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or by anyone else except trainee godmen.

How to Eat Red Hot Chillis

2009-04-18T09:55:00.004Z

You will need: Olive Oil, some red hot chillis

This is an easy one and popular with godmen. Chillis burn the mouth when they come into contact with saliva. If this is prevented, then they don't burn and can be swallowed. To stop the chillis from touching the saliva, you must rinse your mouth very well with olive oil before performing the feat. The olive oil coats the mouth for just long enough to chew and swallow the chillis, but beware, the whole act has to be done quite quick. The chillis can later be expelled from the stomach through vomiting (or ingesting an emetic).

NB Godmen's miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or by anyone except trainee godmen.

How to Turn a Rod into a Snake

2009-04-17T07:52:00.001Z

You will need: one snake

This is arguably the oldest illusion on record, and was performed by Aaron at the court of the Egyptian Pharaoh. It is still performed regularly across the Subcontinent by Godmen. The illusion involves a rod or staff being tossed to the ground, and slowly taking on life, and slithering away as a snake. It's important to do the trick in dim lighting, preferably towards sunset when the heat of the day has worn off. You take the snake and chill it, while stretching it out between your hands... and as you do this, you press a thumb quite hard on the top of the snake's head. The serpent, which thinks there is a huge creature standing on it, goes into shock and freezes. As soon as the snake has been exhibited as a rod... quite motionless, you drop it to the ground. Realising that the predator has vanished, and warming up, it slithers away.

NB Godmen’s miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Make Flowers Bow Down

2009-04-16T10:47:00.005Z

You will need: Chloroform, spray apparatus

The illusion was very popular with more established Godmen in the 1990s, before it was rumbled in a big way. The illusion is simple: the Godman enters an auditorium and, as he does so, flowers on either side of the dias seem to droop. Little do the audience of devotees know, but the re are tiny nozzles placed amongst the flowers, which spray chloroform. Flora, just as mammals, are affected by the chemical, and go into their own form of collapse.

NB Godmen’s miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Get Ash From Coins

2009-04-15T07:41:00.002Z

You at will need: a saturated solution of mercuric chloride up in water, one aluminium coin

While the audience is assembling, dip your finger and thumb into the solution of mercuric chloride as it is part of your miracle process. Ask for a volunteer to come up and to show you a very low denomination coin (in India these are made from aluminium). Take the coin and rub it with your thumb and forefinger so that the solution of mercuric chloride touches the metal on both sides. Then call for the volunteer to come forward again and place the coin in his palm, tell him to close his palm and wait a little while. As the solution reacts with the aluminium metal, heat is created and a grey ash substance -- like holy ash -- starts being formed on the surface of the coin. You can wash the coin and the ash was still erupt.

NB Godmen’s miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Dip Your Finger in Molten Lead

2009-04-14T08:36:00.000Z

You will need: a crucible, some lead foil

Heat the lead foil over a fire in the crucible. When it is molten, scrape off any residue or impurities. This is important because they can get stuck to the finger during the miracle. When you are ready, and when the lead is completely liquid, dip your finger into the molten metal and withdraw it as deliberately as possible. The lead will only be about 400 degrees celsius, and therefore ought not to burn you.

NB Godmen’s miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Eat Glass

2009-04-13T08:30:00.001Z

You will need: one banana, one clear lightbulb

Before your has audience has assembled, eat the banana. Then when the audience is ready, show them the lightbulb, which must be clear glass. The opaque variety contains mercury which is poisonous. Tell the crowd that you are about to eat the lightbulb because you are superhuman. Then, with as much theatrical flair as you can muster, place the lightbulb on a handkerchief and crush it under your foot. When you have done this take a large piece of glass, preferably from the side or the top of the lightbulb, and put it on your tongue. Slowly begin to chew using your molars. Once the glass has been crushed well, you can swallow it. There should be no harm because the glass powder will be embedded in the banana which will be waiting to the glass in your stomach.

NB Godmen's a miracle such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

How to Dip Your Arm in Boiling Oil

2009-04-12T08:23:00.000Z

You will need: One big pot, lime juice, vegetable oil

Pour the vegetable oil into the pot and pour in the lime juice as well.Put the pot on a fire in front of the audience, and announce to them that you are going to plunge your arm into boiling oil. As the oil heats up the citric acid in the lime juice boils off long before the oil is itself hot enough to boil. As the lime juice sits at the bottom of the pot, it boils up through the oil, giving the illusion that it is the oil that's boiling. While the oil is still cool enough to do so, immerse your arm into it, while exclaiming to the crowd how incredible it is that you can defy the heat.

NB Godmen's miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except a trainee Godmen.

How to Eat Fire

2009-04-11T20:06:00.004Z

You will need: a cube of camphor

Take the cube of camphor and hold between the thumb and index finger of the left hand, and light it with a match. While the camphor is burning, you can place it on your palm and it will burn without hurting you. Once the audience has seen the fire, and been amazed by it, gently place it on your tongue while keeping your mouth sufficiently open so that the fire can be seen. It is a good idea to do this trick in a darkened room or at night. Once the camphor has become too hot, you can blow out the fire by breathing out, ie extinguishing it with carbon dioxide in the breath. Do not swallow the camphor.

NB Godmen’s miracles such as this should never be attempted by children, or anyone else except trainee Godmen.

And Now For Something VERY Different

2009-04-10T09:18:00.003Z

A little over ten years ago, I published a book entitled SORCERER'S APPRENTICE. It was a book that I was never intending to write, detailing a strange and rather reckless time learning the kind of conjuring that's done on a daily basis across India by 'Godmen'. I was taken on by an Indian magician called Hakim Feroze whom, sadly, is no longer alive. The routine as his pupil at times bordered on the wildly sadistic, but was one of those periods of initiation which, in hindsight, were illuminated with a kind of magical light. Over the next few days I'm going to detail some of the more bizarre illusions that are performed by Godmen... many of them based on a form of chemical magical that was originally pioneered by Harry Houdini no less. The nanny states of the West gradually curbed the availability of the chemicals needed for these illusions. But in India, I am delighted to report, they are alive and well.

The Book of the Book IX

2009-04-09T07:09:00.001Z

Yasavi of the Masters Transmits it

Ahmed Yasavi had a history of the content of the Book of the Book bound in a volume of over two hundred pages, on whose cover was written: "If the thickness of books determines the value of their content, this one should issue really be even thicker."

Since Ahmed Yasavi, of the masters of Central Asia, this story has been transmitted for more than seven hundred years.

The Book of the Book VIII

2009-04-08T06:07:00.003Z

Yasavi Buys it for Twelve Gold Pieces

When Ahmed Yasavi was a student, he bought a copy of the Book from Mali, paying two gold pieces.

The following day he returned, and gave only another ten pieces of gold, saying: "What I have learned from the Book is worth more than this. But since I have no more money I will give it all to you, in token of my valuing this lesson is equal to my entire possessions."...

The Book of the Book VII

2009-04-07T07:01:00.000Z

Mali Saves the Book

The Barbarian had the book had destroyed, but his interpreter, whose name was Mali, remembered its contents. It is through his work with its teaching was passed down.

Mali opened a shop.

He kept copies of the Book of the Book on view, for sale. Nobody was allowed to look inside until he had paid two gold pieces for a copy. Some learned the lesson of the book, and came back to study with Mali. others wanted their money returned, but Mali always said:

"I cannot give back your money until you return me what you have learned from the transaction, as well as the book itself."

Some who preferred mere appearance to inner content, called Mali a deceiver.

But Mali told them: "You were, all along, seeking deceivers so you will assume that you have found one in anyone."...

The Book of the Book VI

2009-04-06T08:14:00.001Z

The Guarding and Theft of the Book

The king was so impressed by the stranger's story that he ordered the story to be inscribed and bound in a large book. This was placed in a niche in his Treasury and guarded by armed men, day and night. The aged king died and a barbarian conqueror devastated his realm.

Breaking into the Treasury, this man saw the book in its place of honour and said to himself: "This must be the source of the country's happiness, wisdom and prosperity." He said aloud: "Let the book be taken down and read out to me in our own language."

But this conqueror, for all his physical power, was an ignoramus; he could make no sense of the words in the book...

The Book of the Book V

2009-04-05T07:13:00.000Z

The Interpretation of the Dervish

The dispirited students, going to rest in a caravanserai, came upon a dervish, and told him of their perplexity.

He said: "What did you learn from the scholars?"

The travellers said: "Nothing. They could tell us nothing."

The dervish said: "On the contrary, they told you everything. They showed that the book was not to be understood in the manner I assumed by you, or by them. You may think that they lacked depth. But you, in your turn, lack sense. The book was teaching something through the incident itself, while you remained asleep."

But the students found this explanation too subtle to their minds, and the only person who maintained the knowledge of the block was a casual visitor to the caravanserai, who overheard the interchange which I have just repeat to you, O King and Dervish!"

The stranger dressed in green then stood up and walked away...

The Book of the Book IV

2009-04-04T06:47:00.003Z

The Opinion of the Scholars

The successors to the sage took the book to the most famous scholars of their time, saying:

"We have this book, and seek your interpretation. It belongs to such and such a sage, the wonder of the age, now dead.

This is all he left behind, and we are unable to fathom its mystery."

At first the scholars were delighted to see a work of such size, bearing the name of its former owner, whom they knew to have been revered by multitudes of people.

They said:

"We will of course give you the real interpretation."

But when they found that the book was all but empty, and what words there were made no sense to them, they first sneered and then shouted at the students, driving them away in fury.

They believed that they had been victims of a hoax. That was a time when scholars were limited and literal-minded.

They could not imagine a book which could do something, only a book which said something...

The Book of the Book III

2009-04-03T06:42:00.001Z

Contrary to Expectation

A wise man, the wonder of his age, taught his disciples from a seemingly inexhaustible store of wisdom.

He attributed all his knowledge to a thick tome which was kept in a place of honour in his room.

This sage would allow nobody to open the volume.

When he died, those who had surrounded him, regarding themselves as his heirs, ran to open the book, anxious to possess what it contained.

They were surprised, confused and disappointed when they found that there was writing on only one page.

They became even more bewildered and then annoyed when they tried to penetrate the meaning of the phrase which met their eyes.

It was: "when you realise the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge."...

The Book of the Book II

2009-04-02T06:02:00.002Z

The Stranger Who Dressed in Green

One day the aging king, out on a hunting expedition, sat down to rest when a stranger, dressed in green, approached.

Saluting the king he told a story; this story, The Tale of the book.

The next section begins with the tale of the book.

The Book of The Book I

2009-04-01T07:34:00.000Z

The Dervish who Became a King

There was once a dervish who had seen truth.

He decided he would have to become powerful in the ordinary world before people would listen to him, so he applied all his concentration to the task of attaining visible authority.

In the course of time he became king.

When he had spent some time as a ruler, the dervish realised that people did not want his way of teaching.

They appeared to hear him, but acted only from hope of reward or fear of punishment.

This dervish King lacked an instrument with which to teach. None came to him until he was almost at the end of his days...

Content and Container

2009-03-31T06:27:00.002Z

As the parent of two small children, I often find myself explaining to them the difference between content and container. We are all at times lured by the sizzle, so greatly that we forget it's almost of no value at all. And children fall for it all more, perhaps because of the way society targets them, and because of their natural ingenuousness. This morning, Ariane was going on and on about her best friend's school bag. She described it in intricate detail. She said it had pictures of Barbie all over the back, and pink fluffy felt on the sides, and a handle made from real pink leather. At first I tried to tell her that the bag was nothing more than that, a bag... but she didn't want to hear. So I said I would tell her story to explain what I meant. This is the story, The Book of the Book...

The King, the Dog, and the Golden Bowl IV

2009-03-30T05:19:00.000Z

Then an old man appeared, in a rough woollen robe, and with a stick in his hand, upon which he leant heavily.

"Greetings my son," said the old man. "What brings you to this place?"

"Some time ago I came here in rags," said Hassan, and was fortunate enough to be given the meat from its bowl by this dog here. When I left I took the bowl, sold it, and replenished my fortunes, and now I have come to repay the debt, and returned his bowl."

"All those times are gone," said the old man, "the vanity and pomp which was once my court has vanished."

Hassan now saw that this was indeed the generous king whom he had seen feeding the poor and needy in the great palace long ago.

"Your Majesty," said he, "please take this bowl which I have brought."

"No," said the old king, "I had no need for anything, except that which I have here. My hounds catch me game from my one daily meal, and my old gardener has remained with me and continues to grow some roses and vegetables for me. Together, he, I, and the hounds managed to enjoy our lives. After my enemies destroyed my city and my people were taken away in slavery, I have lived very simply here."

"But, the bowl," said Hassan, "May I not leave it to your Majesty? "

"If a dog of mine thought it fit to give away his bowl," said the King, "it is not for me to take it back. I am sure that he has no need of it now. Oh, return from whence you came, we are sufficiently provided for at the present time."

So, bowing to the king, Hassan mounted his horse and rode away. He looked back, and saw the old man, leaning upon his stick, wavered last farewell, and then disappear back into the ruins, with his three hounds about him.

And Hassan, in after days, often told the story, that men should not forget the tale of the King the Dog and the Golden bowl.

The King, the Dog, and the Golden Bowl III

2009-03-29T07:13:00.001Z

By clever buying and selling, he soon had enough merchandise to take back to his native town, where his friends greeted him with much joy.

His luck soon changed, and Hassan became a successful trader once again, and before long he was once as rich as he had ever been.

Some years later, he felt the urge to return to the town where he had been shown such kindness by the dog. He made up his mind to replace the golden bowl which he taken away at the insistence of the dog.

Within a few days, a replica of the bowl was ready, and Hassan climbed onto his best horse with flowing robes and boots finest leather, set off

At last he arrived and once more saw the old walls which were built around the city. But, upon writing inside the gates, he saw with amazement that the glory of the palace was no more. It lay wide open to the sky, roofless and ruined, its beautiful pillars broken as if destroyed by Mongol hordes.

The wrecked houses were silent and empty, the shops where rich and contented merchants had been, were sacked and smashed, their merchandise looted.

Sorrowfully, Hassan was mounting his horse to ride away, when a great hound darted out of the palace ruins and was followed by two others. Hassan recognized them as the dogs which had been brought by the attendant to feed from the golden bowls when he was a beggar in that very same place.

The King, the Dog, and the Golden Bowl, II

2009-03-28T07:07:00.004Z

There was a great concourse of people, young and old, being given food and money by the generous monarch, who sat upon a great golden throne in the middle of the lofty hall.

Suddenly from his hiding place, Hassan saw three great hounds being brought to space a few feet away from him; and an attendant placed to three bowls of finest meat before each of the dogs. The man then went away, and Hassan found his eyes fixed upon the delicious meat which had been given to the dogs. As he was thinking that he could with joy feed from even the leftovers in the animals' bowls, so great was his hunger, the dog nearest to him raised his eyes. Looking at him in an almost human fashion he pushed his jewelled golden bowl towards Hassan. The famished man, unable to wait a second longer, helped himself to one of the pieces of succulent meat, and pushed the bowl back to the dog. But, with its paw, the animal again pushed it over to Hassan, until he had eaten to his heart's content. Then the intelligent creature ate, and after it had licked the bowl clean, it pushed it back to Hassan. The man saw it was offering him the bowl, and so he took it in his hands and then hid the precious object under his tattered cloak. When he had done so, the animal seem to nod his head in agreement.

Hassan realised that if he sold the bowl, and bought himself new clothes, he would at least have a chance to approach a merchant to do some sort of work.

He patted the hound gratefully on the head, and slipped away from the crowd. Next day he sold the bowl, which, being studded with precious jewels, brought him in such a good price, but he was able to set himself up in business once again.

The King, the Dog, and the Golden Bowl I

2009-03-27T07:00:00.001Z

Here is one of my favourite stories... I'm giving it here because I have just been to see the carpenter, Mr. Reda, who built the library for me at Dar Khalifa. I was reminded of the king's fate in the story, because Mr. Reda was sitting in his workshop, alone. He said there was no work, and he had let all his carpenters go... but instead of being sad he had resigned himself to fate.

Once upon a time there lived a merchant, called Hassan, who was wealthy and generous, happy and fortunate.

But one day, disaster stared him in the face. His ships, bearing great loads of treasure from afar, were captured by pirates and his warehouse -- containing many valuables -- was burned down. Unable to face his friends, he sold his house and his remaining belongings, and set off in search of his fortune.

But good luck deserted Hassan. A thief stole his remaining money while he was asleep in a caravanerai, and this time he found himself without a single coin to his name, in a strange and foreign land.

He went to the mosque and asked if he could stay the night, and was very ashamed at having to ask the charity. How was he ever going to hold up his head again, he wondered? He asked the mosque-keeper what he should do. "My brother," said the old man, "go three days march from here, and you will arrive at such and such a place. The king there is generous and kind, and you may be able to put your case before him. He would be sure to give you more charity but I can give, because we are so poor."

Before leaving the mosque, Hassan gave his last few coins to the imam, and wished him a long and prosperous life.

Hassan set off on a rough road and was soon thirsty and tired, wondering whether the journey was a good idea at all.

After three days he arrived almost starving at a walled city. The shopkeepers there were richly dressed in contented. Hassan walked wearily towards the palace, where the old mosque-keeper had told him the generous king helped thousands of people each night. But when he finally got there he was so ashamed of his rags, and so fearful of presenting himself in such a state before the king, that he hid behind a pillar, from which vantage point he could look upon the scene of the royal court....

Common Greetings and Phrases

2009-03-26T13:22:00.003Z

Following on from yesterday, I want to highlight a few of the Arab expressions and phrases that are heard constantly in North Africa and the Middle East.

Assalam wa alaikum: As I said yesterday, this is the most common Arab greeting, meaning 'Peace be upon you'. It is uttered constantly, and it would be incorrect to omit it when meeting someone, entering a shop, and so on.

Ahlan wa sahlan: An all purpose relaxed greeting, favoured particularly in Egypt, that is truncated to 'Ahlan'.

Bismillah: 'In the name of God', it is said before a pious Muslim embarks on any activity at all. Before sitting down, before breaking bread or eating, or beginning just about any action that requires a little thought.

Alhamdullillah: 'Praise God'. It's used as a reply when someone asks you how you are. Also when one hears good news.

Tafaddul: Literally, 'Honour me', is an invitation to someone to sit down, come into their home, and so on.

Shukran: 'Thank you'.

La illaha illa Allah, Muhammed ar-Rasul-Allah: 'There is no god except Allah, Muhammed is the Messenger of God'. This is the Islamic Profession of Faith. To repeat it once is to testify once conversion to Islam.

La haula wa la quwwatah illa billahi al aali wa'l azeem: 'There is no Power or Might accept God, the High, the Great.' The phrase is sometimes said is an expression of great surprise.

Astaghfirullah: 'I seek refuge in God'. The expression of alarm, disgust and so on.

Greeting

2009-03-25T13:43:00.004Z

In the Arab and Islamic world greeting people is very important. It's usually much more than a passing 'hello', and can often turn into an elaborate exchange of expressions, and an abundant show of friendship. The Prophet noted that people ought to greet each other. And anyone who has travelled in an Arab country, must have seen local people greeting friends and acquaintances, shaking hands and kissing cheeks. Here in Morocco there is almost nothing so important as greeting someone, whether a stranger or a friend. Each morning when I meet the guardian's here at our house for the first time, I spend a moment asking them how they, and how their families are, and of course shaking hands. Hand-shaking is a very big deal in the Arab world. It would be unthinkable for me to greet another man and refrain from shaking their hand. The same goes for public greetings. When you enter a bank for example, or even an elevator, you always say: 'As salam wa alaikum', 'Peace be upon you'. I suppose it came from the times when you never knew whether a stranger was a friend or foe. And by expressing your greeting, you were declaring that you were friendly, and not about to stab them in the back. In the Arab world it can be considered inappropriate for a man to ask another man about his wife. So you always find yourself being asked "how is the family?" A conversation between two friends will never begin until such enquiries have been made. On my travels I have noticed that almost all societies outside Europe and North America have such elaborate greetings. They are part of the culture, an expression that runs far deeper than the simplicity of the words. Last week I went to London to two or three days, and in the middle of the trip I found myself getting into a crowded elevator. As soon as I managed to squeeze in, I spent a moment greeting everybody, as I would do in Morocco. I did it on autopilot, and found myself met with looks of blank amazement. After all, in London there can sometimes be a sense of hostility to outright strangers. But then, as the elevator rose up towards the top of the building, a few of the other passengers nervously greeted me back. It was a heart-warming experience, and I could sense that the others just like me felt energised in some way by the greetings someone they didn't know.