The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

Amina is furious at Salima for lying. Salima is shocked to hear that Amina knows about the Moon of Saba, and when Amina quits, Salima threatens to kill Marjana in retribution. Cursing herself for getting into this situation, Amina demands more money for supplies and insists on seeing the study and the library of the escaped girl. Amina looks for information about the Moon of Saba for hours but finds nothing until she finally sees a scrap of paper. The paper contains a passage that Salima mentioned reading and then burning; it tells of a place surrounded by a “veil of waters and guarded by white snakes,” where a man “sleeps beneath a ceiling of stone hands, forever separated from the celestial adobe” (156). Amina leaves the house late, carrying the scrap of paper and some stolen jewelry. When Amina shares Salina’s threat, Dalila asks what the next step is, and Amina tells her that she doesn’t have to come, since this is not the job she signed up for. Dalila reminds Amina that she is after a big cut of the million dinars and that the Frank, Falco, has already discovered where she lives. Amina says they will go to Mogadishu to find Majed, the old navigator.

Amina gives the crew shore leave, along with money to spend in town, and they have a feast before leaving. On the voyage, Dalila experiments with Chinese black powder. When Amina compliments Tinbu on how well he has taken care of the ship, he is touched and expresses his hope that she will stays, as he doesn’t enjoy being in charge. She watches the crew work, and Tinbu laughs that she has “that look” (162) where she is debating which will be her latest husband. Dalila’s experiment with the black powder works, and the substance explodes, making Amina angry that they are playing with explosives on her wooden ship. They debate how best to fight a man who has supernatural powers, and Amina worries that Majed won’t be happy to see them.

The beginning of this note is an official document stating that Majed bin Suleiman Batawiyna is no longer apprenticed to Ibrahim Shirazi, an expert cartographer, as Majed has abandoned his studies. If Majed returns to Kilwa, he will be questioned regarding the assistance he rendered to a local smuggler, al-Sirafi (Amina’s father).

The second part of the interlude, which is written in a different hand, is an apology to the writer’s father. The writer states that he tried to salvage Majed’s position, but this time, the boy has left with an infamous captain and is lost for good. The writer suggests that if Majed comes home, he should be married and apprenticed in a trade as far away from the ocean as possible.

No one wants to go with Amina to find Majed, so she enjoys walking through Mogadishu alone. She finds an upper-middle class home and knocks. A small boy who looks just like Majed answers the door. Majed tries to slam the door in Amina’s face, but she blocks it, claiming that he can’t possibly still be angry. They are scuffling at the door when his wife, a tall Somali woman named Nasteho, greets Amina, and to Majed’s horror, welcomes her in and involves her in their Friday celebrations. Amina feasts with them. Nasteho takes Amina a room in which their son is reading about India, saying that he wants to be an explorer. Nasteho asks if she can bring her children to see the Marawati, and Amina is surprised, thinking that Majed wouldn’t have told his wife about his past.

They catch up on the Amina’s family news, and Majed asks about Marjana. Amina is surprised to learn that he hasn’t traveled since she left the Marawati, for he used to be a rabid explorer. When Amina says she is looking for Asif’s child, Majed already knows that Dunya exists, because Asif asked him toward the end of his life about salvation and what the Qur’an says about one’s soul. When Amina explains the mission and the search, Majed declares that she should walk away. When she explains that Salima has threatened her family, however, Majed promises to learn more about the enigmatic scrap of paper and come to the Marawati with what he finds. When she thanks him, he says that Asif’s child and Asif were family, as is she, and that family members must help each other.

Nasteho brings her children to visit the Marawati with a large picnic. She marvels at the ship, amazed that Majed gave it up. She and Amina speak about loving their children and also loving to do the jobs they are good at. They discuss the conflict between domestic life and career work. Majed comes with an answer, saying that the scrap of paper leads to a pirate haven called Socotra. The cave is on the side with such bad currents and weather that the pirates stay on the other end. Majed says they would be better off if he was with them, but Amina says he should stay with his family. Dalila correctly speculates that it was Nasteho’s idea that he go with the Marawati. They argue until Amina finally agrees to allow him to rejoin her crew. They settle on an amount of money for his family. Dalila and Majed continue to argue until Amina irately declares that she will abandon them both on Socotra.

An anecdote from the travels of Ibn al-Mujawir notes that Socotra is a big, wonderful island with lush vegetation and fresh water. The people are Christians and sorcerers and once caused their island to disappear when a fleet of warships tried to invade.

A second excerpt from Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Muqaddasi warns that the island of Usqutrah is a refuge for pirates.

Amina is happy that Majed has joined them, for the sea is dangerous and his adventurous spirit and devout practices have lifted the spirits of many of the sailors as well as Amina. Their going is so pleasant that Amina is suspicious and worries that he is manipulating their luck, even though she believes this unnamed person to be dead. On the 16th day, the lookout sees land, and they cautiously go to the opposite side of the island from the pirates. Tinbu, Dalila, and Amina plan to go to shore alone.

Upon reaching the shore, the three see half of a ship that has washed up on the rocks. It appears to have been bitten in half. They worry that it is Falco’s ship and that Dunya went down with it. They continue on to the strange island, which sports foreign plants and terrain. They find evidence of habitation, but no actual humans. Amina notes that there’s very little sound at all. She takes the first watch, remembering stories that her father told her and reflecting on her belief that magic has always called her.

In the morning, they spot a footprint that wasn’t there the night before, but no one heard anything during the night. By midday, they find a town and realize that it is has been burned. The only evidence of violence or people are three elders, two women and a priest, who have been speared to a tree trunk. Dalila insists that she will bury them. The bodies have odd puncture marks on their necks and appear to be untouched by insects or animals. Amina and her companions try to dig the graves quickly, and Amina feels like someone is following them when they go. Suddenly, she sees a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye and yanks Tinbu aside in time for her own lost knife to stick into a tree where Tinbu’s throat had just been. A demon that she thought she had long ago left for dead suddenly appears. It is Raksh, who greets her as his wife.