A Notice to Suleiman Batawiyna on the Dissolution of the Apprenticeship of His Son
“Let it be known that Majed ibn Suleiman Batawiyna is no longer affiliated with either Ibrahim Shirazi, master cartographer
to the Sultan of Kilwa, or Sheikh Dawud al-Hasan, having abandoned his teachers, his duties, and all manner of respectability.
Furthermore, should he return to Kilwa, he is to be brought immediately to the local qadi for questioning as to his relationship
and possible criminal assistance to the accused smuggler Saad al-Sirafi. For his failure to complete assigned work, the debts
of his board and supplies will be transferred to his family, a bill amounting to eighty-four dirhams to be presented to Suleiman
Batawiyna posthaste...”
[written in a different hand and scrawled beneath]
Suleiman, I have tried my best to rein the boy in and salvage his position, but no amount of pleading will change their minds
this time, and I cannot blame them. I do not believe your son has turned to lawbreaking, but his willingness to go off on
any vessel in his efforts to explore have embroiled him too often with suspect nawakhidha. I fear he may be lost for good
this time. If you manage to entice him home, tie him to a trade and a wife as far from the sea as possible. For Majed no sooner
gets a glimpse of a ship, than he packs up and is gone.