Dick Davis

1945 / Portsmouth

Ibn Battuta

Near the beginning of his first journey
The great traveller (who was to suffer
Shipwreck, the loss of all his wealth, his slaves
- On whom he doted - and his son; who was
to fight with pirates, brigands, be received
By princes as an equal and be laughed at
As a pauper; who was to see the known world
And its wonders) near the beginning
Of his first journey he tells us how
In company of a caravan of travellers
He approached a city, and how a crowd
Of well-wishers and relatives came out
To welcome them, so that each man was greeted
By a face he knew, except for him,
Ibn Battuta, whom no one greeted
Because he was a stranger there, and how
This knowledge was borne in on him, and how
He wept.
When the book is closed this picture
Of the young man in his twenties weeping
- And not the princes, slaves and shipwrecks -
Is what stays with you
so that you almost feel
Across the centuries the pressure of
Your hand against his arm, and hear
Your own voice raised in greeting.
338 Total read