Part 13

whose ci rcu msta nces are unkn own. Th en it stretches westwa rd

and borders the 1 ~lI1d s of th e Russ ians and pa sses th cm , then

turn s westward and southwa rd and e nci rcl cs th e la nd . Then it

retu rn s toward the west and the stra it po urs alit fro m the west

to the body of the la nd , the furth ermos t point of w hi ch ends

at the western borders of As h-Sham (Syri a). Then it c rosscs

th e land s of thc C hristians, until it reaches Con sta ntin ople and

o th er lands o f the ir.

They say th aI betwecilth c Indian Sea and the Chi na Sea there

are moun tai ns whi ch separate them and between thcm therc

arc lanes o n whic h ships travel and they arc caused to do so

by th eir Creato r. He ha s a lso mad c path s simil ar to thel11 Oil

the land. A ll ah , Most Hi gh, says, ( And We have placed Oil

the Earth fi ml mountains, lest it shou ld shake w ith th em, and

We pl aced th erc il l b road hi g hways for thcm to pass th roug h.

that they may be guided. ) (Soorah AI-Allbiyo· 2 1:3 1). And

Pto lemy, on e of the kings of Ind ia, ( 1) mention ed in hi s book,

(I) Claudius PlOlelll.leliS (Greek: Ktaudios Plolelllaios; afler 83 - C. 168

C.E.). known ill Eng tish as Ptolemy. was an ancient mnihelllaliciall. as-

tronomer. gcogr:lpher and astrologer in the Greek lradilion . He lived in

Roman Egypt alltl was probably burn Ihere in a IOW II illlhc Thcbaid called

II lUll I/as Been Said Rega,.ding 'he CrelJlioll of 67

AI·Mijisli, whi ch was tra nslated into Arabic duri ng the reign

of AI·Ma'moon - which is the so urce of thi s information -

that the seas wh ich fl ow from the western, castern , southern

and north crn oceans are ve ry numerous. So me of th cm are in

fact , one sea, but bear diffe rent names, according to th e lands

whi ch they border; these include Bahr AI.QlIlzlllll (the Red

Sea) and AI·Qulzum is a vi llage on the coast, near Aylah. There

is also the Sea of Persia, th c Khazar Sca (Caspian Sea), the

Sea of Warnak , the Roman Sca (the Mediterranean Sea), th c

Bantash Sea and the Blue Sea - a city on its coast - and it is

al so known flS AI·Qann Sea. It becomes narrow un til il pours

into the Roman Sea, to the sO llt h of Constantinop le, i.e., the

Gu lf of Constantino pi c. This is why the ships move qui ckly on

its curren t from AI·Qarm to the Roman Sea, whi le they mo ve

slowly when they come from Alexandri a to AI·Qa rm . This is

beca use they encounter a current of water; and thi s is one of the

wonders of thc world, because evcry flowing water is sweet,

except thi s. And every non·fl owi ng sea is salty, excep t [or the

Khazar Sea, which is al so known as the Georgia n Sea and the

Sea of Tabar is tan find has a large port ion o[sweet wfltc r in it.

acco rding to what has been reported by tra ve lers to the area.

They (the geographcrs) have mcntioned the limits of these

seas, their origins and their end·points. And they have also

mentioned the lakes on Earth into which the ri vers empty

and ot her fl ow - nnd they arc th e wide beds. They have also

men ti oned the we ll·known great ri vers that exist on Earth,

Ptolemais Henlliou; he died in Alexandria around 168 C.E. Ptolemy was

the (IUthor of several scientific treati ses, three of which would be of con-

tinuing importance to later Islam ic and European science. One of them

was the astfonomicallreatise now known as ,1f· Magesl , or AI-Mijisli (The

Great Treatise). He was not a king of India.

68 II'h(ll 11m Been S(lid Regol'ding lite C}"(!(Jl ion o(

along with their so urces and whe re they end.

But we arc not co ncerned with lengthy explanatio ns o f such

things here ; we only wish to speak of what relates to the rive rs

whic h are mentioned in the /wdeelli. Alla h, Most High, says,

( Allah is He Who has created the heavens and the Earth and

send s dow n wa ter (rain ) fro111 th e sky, and th ereby brings fo rth

fruits as provi sion for you: and li e has made the ships to be

of service to YOll , that they may sail through the sea by Hi s

Command: and li e ha s made rive rs (al so) to be of service to

you. And He has made the SUIl and the 11100n , both constant ly

pu rsuin g the ir courses, to be of service \0 you; and He has made

the ni ght an cl the day to be of service to you. And I-I e gave you

o f all thai you asked for, and if you (try to) coum the bl ess ings

of All ah , nevcr will you be able to count thelll . Verily. man is

ind eed an ex tremc wrongdoer, un grateful ) (SoO/·all Ibraheelll

In the Saheehail7, it is reported on the aut hority of Ma lik

Ibn Sa'sa'ah ~ that when the Messenger of Allah ~ spoke

of Sidmll AI-MlIlIlalw, he said: "Two hidden ri vers and IwO

visib le ri ve rs ran from its root s. As for the two hi dden rive rs,

they arc in Paradise, and the two visible ri ve rs, they are the

Nile and the Euphrat es." ( II

In Soheeh Muslim , it is reported on the autho rity o f Abu

Humirah .;-.. thil t the Mcssenger of Allah ~ sai d. "Saiban,

Jaihan, the Euphrates and the Nil e arc all among the rivers of"

(I) Narrated by AJ-8 ukhari (3207) lind M uslirn (164)

(2) Narmtcd by Muslim (2839).

WIIliI lias Beel/ Said Ueglln/illK 'he Crt'alion of 69

What is meant - and Al lah knows bett er - by thi s is that these

ri vers resemble th e ri ve rs o f Pa radi se in th e ir c l<l rity. their

sweetness. th eir courses and oth er such attribu tes. as he :il said

in an other Iwc/eel /r, narrated and declarcd auth enti c by At-

Tirmidhi. 011 the au thority o r Abu Sala mah, who reported on

thc authorit y of Abu I-I urai rah ~ thallhc Messe nger or All ah :t;:

sa id , "Tlte 'ajll'a/r dales are from Paradi se and co ntain a cure fDr

poison." II I T hat is, they rese mbl e th e fruit s of Paradise, not th at

thcy arc ha rvestcd from Parad ise. becausc prac ti ca l ex perience

proves ot he rw ise: so it is clcar that it re fe rs to somc thin g else.

Likcw ise, the Prophet ~ said , " Fever is from the breath of Ihe

Hellfire: so cool it with watcr." m And he ~ said. " The severit y

o f the heat is from th e breat h of thc Hellfi rc." tH In thc samc

way. the sources o f these ri ve rs have bec n w itn essed on Earth.

As for the Nile. it is the ri ver whi ch is witho ut equa l on Ea rth

in its li ght ness and it s fin eness and thc di stance IDr wh ich it

now s /i'om its beg innin g to it s end . II starts in Ihc mountain s or

A I-Qum r, i. e. o f whil e. Somc said that they are the mountains

o f Al-Qamar. i.e. th e moo n and they arc in the west of the land .

bcyond the equato r, lying in a sout herl y direc ti on. It is sa id that

len streams o f watcr - all o f thcm di stant from onc anothe r -

combin e to form it nnd lhat each fi ve o f them comb ine to fDrm

a lake , then s ix ri vers now from it, thcn all o ft hc l11 combi ne to

fDrm nllo thc r lake a nd [h cn one ri vcr nows from it and that is the

Nile. It then passcs through the In nd s of Sud an and Abyss in ia

( 1) Namlled by A t-Tinnidhi (2066). who dec lared it husol/ s(lfteeh.

(2) Narrated by AIll ukhari on the atJIhori ly of - Abdullah tbn 'Umar (3264)

and tvluslim (2209), Ibn t\'lajah (3472). Ahmad (4 705) and Malik (1 761 ).

(3) Narrated on Ihc lItJlhority of Abu lIurnirnh + by AI-Bukhari (534) and

M usli m (6 15). Abu Oawood (402). At-T in nid hi (157). An-NaS<I 'i (SOO).

Ibn 1>. lajah (677). Ahmad (7205). 1>. 1;.]ik (29) and Ad-Darimi ( 1207).

70 IVltaf lIas Beell Said Regardil1g the Creafioll oj

and then through Nubia and its main city is Dongo la. It then

passes through Aswan, aner wh ich it passes through the lands

of Egypt. It then goes a little way beyond Egypt and splits

into two pari s nea r a village on its shoreline; th is village is

known as Shattanawf. Then the westerly fl ow takes it through

Rasheed and pours into the briny sea. As for the easterly fl ow,

it also divid es into two flo ws at Jawja r. The wes tern flow

passes th rough the western side of Dim yat and pours into the

sea, whi le th e eas tern flow passes through Ushmoon Tannah,

where it pours into a lake east of Dimyat. Th is lake is known

as La ke Tinnccs or Lake Dimyat. The distance betwcen its

start ing point and its end po int is a vast one and this is why

it is such a calm river. Ibn Seena said , " It has characteri sti cs

which no other ri ver 0 11 Earth has; these include the fac t that

measured fro m its source to its endpo int, it is the longest river.