l. A Muslim historian and geographer Abul-Hassan Ali Ibn Al-Hussain Al-Masudi (871 - 957 CE) wrote in his book ‘Muruj Adh-dhahab wa Maadin al-Jawhar’ (The Meadows of Gold and Quarries of Jewels) that during the rule of the Muslim Caliph of Spain Abdullah Ibn Muhammad (888 - 912 CE), a Muslim navigator Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad of Cordoba, Spain sailed from Delba (Palos) in 889 CE, crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown territory (Ard Majhoola) and returned with fabulous treasures. In Al-Masudi's map of the world there is a large area in the ocean of darkness and fog (the Atlantic ocean) which he referred to as the unknown territory (the Americas).
2. A Muslim historian Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya narrated that during the reign of the Muslim Caliph of Spain, Hisham II (976 -1009 CE), another Muslim navigator Ibn Farrukh of Granada sailed from Kadesh (February 999 CE) into the Atlantic, landed in Gando (Great Canary Islands) visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999 CE.

These are prime examples of suspicious references-- what exactly did these authors say? Exactly where may one verify the existence of these works and the exactness with which they are summarized.

Next quote:
From my previous discussion of this set of claims on another ng:
>---------------
> >
> >1. The famous Muslim geographer and cartographer Al-Sharif Al-Idrisi
> >(1099 - 1166 CE) wrote in his famous book ╢Nuzhat al-Mushtaq
> >fi-Ikhtiraq al-Afaq (Excursion of the longing in crossing
> >horizons) that a group of seafarers (from North Africa) sailed into
> >the sea of darkness and fog (the Atlantic ocean) from Lisbon
> >(Portugal), in order to discover what was in it and what extent were
> >its limits. They finally reached an island that had people and
> >cultivation....on the fourth day, a translator spoke to them in the
> >Arabic language.
>
> That's an interesting point. It may be why when Columbus heard of it
> he thought it must be some place in Asia that the arabs might have
> reached in their excursions eastward.

This is interesting because I have a quote from al-Idrisi (Edrisi) that
does not fit this
The foremost Arab geographer of the Middle Ages, Edrîsî, who was born in
Morocco in A.D. 1100 and knew the Atlantic better than most, wrote of the
"Ocean of Darkness" (the Atlantic Ocean) [BOM]:
" Nobody knows what exists beyond that sea, nobody has been able to learn
anything sure on account of the difficulties that prevent navigation,
because of the depth of darkness, the height of the waves, the frequency
of storms, the multiplicity of monstrous animals and the violence of the
winds. Yet there are a number of islands in this ocean, either inhabited
or uninhabited, but no navigator dares to cross it nor to gain the high
seas. They limit themselves to hugging the coast, without losing sight of
the shore. (Edrîsî 1968: 197)."

Edrîsî. 1968. *Description de l'afrique et de l'Espagne.* R. Dozy and M.J.
de Goeje, trans. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

notice that I provided a citation and an exact quote
$$$
My concluding comment on that occassion:


It seems passing strange that students of Arabic sailing and ships, who
can read Arabic, such as Mauny --Mauny, A. 1960. Les Navigations
Médiévales sur les côtes Sahariennes Antériures à la Découverte Portugaies
(1434). Lisbon: Centro de Estudos Históricos Ultramarinos. or George
Hourani don't mention these supposed voyages. We should really have some
decent bibliography and actual quotes rather than some web site's
assertions.

Bernard