Books written on the subject of maritime navigation

Among the oldest books written by scholars of Islamic civilization on the science and arts of navigation, and which remain valuable international references, are: “The Translator’s Guide to the Great Introduction to the Sciences of the Seas,” authored by Abu Ma’shar, and “The Book of al-Rahmani,” written by Muhammad ibn Shaddan, Sahl ibn Aban, and Layth ibn Kahlan during the Abbasid era. The Arabs recorded some of these navigational instructions in the form of “rajaz” (a type of Arabic verse) to facilitate memorization.

However, the most important work on the science of navigation and its connection to maritime science among Muslims is “The Benefits in the Principles of the Science of the Sea and its Rules” by Shihab al-Din ibn Majid al-Sa’di al-Najdi. In it, the author clarifies the history of maritime science and navigation up to the fifteenth century CE, and sheds light on the extent to which Portugal was influenced by Muslim sciences and the navigational traditions they established in maritime navigation in general, and in the Indian Ocean in particular.

Ibn Majid explains in some detail the sciences and knowledge that a ship’s captain must possess, stating that there are many reasons for embarking on seafaring, the most important and primary of which is knowledge of the stations, the distances, and measurement. The signs, the positions of the sun and moon, the winds and their seasons, the sea seasons, the ship’s equipment, and what it requires; one must know the rising and setting points, the measurement technique, the rising and setting points of stars, their longitude, their sea level, and their course. One must know the winds and tides in every way, and inspect the ship’s quarters, its equipment, and its crew, and not overload it beyond the usual capacity.

Ibn Majid adds to all this what he calls “the science of signs,” meaning the landmarks of coasts and islands, the characteristics of the waters, and a measure of information that helps the captain identify different coastlines, reflecting the advanced level of maritime navigation.