I was a young man at the time. Like many young men, I lived foolishly, and soon I hadn't much money. "I must do something to get more money," I told myself. So I sold my house and all my things for three thousand dirhams. With that money, I bought a lot of the best cloth and other goods. I took them to Basra. There was an Arab ship in the river there, and I spoke to its captain.
"We are going to sail next week," he told me. "There will be six merchants with their goods on the ship, and we s ...