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Photo courtesy of Stéphane Rochon: http://www.aquanaute.com/subphoto/index.html
When I felt ready to begin my journey, I rented a sailboat in
Yemen. I had always loved the seaside and the Red Sea is really
one of the most beautiful seas on earth with a rich wildlife, ghostly
shepherds and itinerant gazelles, its columns of auburn rocks, its
banks of salt, its mangroves, and with a lot of coral on its bottom.
The sailboat was steered by a crew of ten; its sail was
made out of a brown canvas on which someone had sewn an
intricate calligraphy. As we set sail the words seemed to heave
along the golden wake:
" He is the One who makes the night go in the day and
makes the day go in the night."(The Qur'an)
The sailing ship appeared a little bit unreal with its black canvas and
antique white lettering, golden on the edges. As the sail twisted into
the sea breeze, it seemed to cast sparkling shades and spots of light
over the written words. I was fascinated. The calligraphy had been
drawn in the Deewani Jali style. This handwriting was highly
ornamental, excessively cursive, however very pleasant. The script
was greatly structured and in a shape that reminded me of the sea
waves mixed with images of desert dunes. What caught my
attention were the spaces between the Arabic letters; these spaces
were spangled with decorative devices that looked like dots so that
the writing seemed blurred with the red sand of the desert.
Over the sombre sail, stiff and smooth like an arid landscape, the
Deewani also evoked the twinkling shine of a night sky. It gave the
illusion that the dark veil of the night was covering and uncovering a
bright landscape of dunes shining in the sun
Since the seventh Century, the desert nomads had learned from the
Qur'an that "[Allah] makes the night go in the day and makes
the day go in the night. And He has subjected the sun and
the moon. Each running on a fixed course for an appointed
term." They knew this way that the earth was round, that what we
call night was not anything else than the shadow cast by the earth.
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They knew that the light disappearing in the West drew the curtain
of the night; they knew that the night disappearing to the west drew
a veil of light coming from the East.
Astrolabes (Left: from the
9th C; right: 15th C) were
used for measuring the
altitude of heavenly bodies
above the horizon, and so
determining the time of day
or night. Readings are taken
by means of rotatable
alidade, a diametrical rule
with sights.
Simple nomads up to that day know the heavens like their home.
Bedouins and sailors are the fathers of great astronomers.
Jidda's harbor was now visible; it was a cluster of buildings that
looked like a sand castle.Behind our sailboat, a windjammer flowed
swiftly. The vessel was just as large as ours but it had a different ink
inscription on its sail; the calligraphy there read: "Allahu-Akbar" --
"Allah is great". Our two vessels were rocking on the waters,
making ready to enter first into the harbor. More boats were
turning for the haven waiting their turn to come into the port. They
were so close to each other that their masts cast a net of shadows
over the sea. Furthermore, masts and gears seemed to braid
masses of threads under the white sun so that it was hard to
distinguish one vessel from another. The rolling woods melted with
the grating pulleys. There was a rumbling of voices all around us in
different tones. Now, the sailors and fishermen seemed all eager to
enter the port.
I was wondering about all the agitation when a man began climbing
along the mast to offer the Adhan, the Muslim call for prayer.
Soon, from nowhere the voices of all the muezzins crossed the
town; all said the same thing:
"Allaahu Akbar" -- "The One God is the most
great"
"Allaahu Akbar"
"Ashhadu an la ilaaha illa-Lah" -- " I bear
witness that there are not gods but God"
"Ash Hadu anna Muhamadar rasuulullah" -- I
bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of God"
"Hayya' alas Salaah" -- "Come to prayer"
"Hayya' alas Salaah"
"Hayya' ala Falaah" -- " Come to felicity"
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