_ 154 _ When I was on the point of leaving Ormuz, people went about looking for way to arrest me and block my way, but the Lord freed me from the snares of the hunters(A), and I embarked on a galleon in which some six hundred souls were voyaging. In addition to them were many other naus and ships, which were sailing with us as a fleet. They were on their way to take a fortress from the Mamluks(B), in which the Lord was to accomplish as much as I have ever seen in a fleet. With the continuous confessions, they refrained from cursing, games and the bad customs that soldiers always engage in. We might have been lost, but I drew great comfort from this danger when I saw the reason why God was allowing it. The voyage which normally takes 15 days, took us two months.(C) On arrival at Muscat, they set up a pulpit in a field where I preached twice. On the final day, in addition to marrying many of those living in concubinage to their concubines, so as to release them from their sins, I united all those who harboured hatred and dissension and made them friends (A) Cf. Psalms 90, 3. (B) It alludes to Catifa (al-Katif) in the Persian Gulf where the Turkish fort was seized by force (cf Schurhammer, Q 4670, 4676, 4693). (C) Almost from the middle of September to the month of November.
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