IBN JUBAIR was born at Valencia, in Spain, in the year 540 of the Hegira (1145-1146 A.d.). He received an excellent education, and was, for a time, in the service of one of the Almohade princes of Granada. In 1183 he set out on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The description printed below is taken from his account of a portion of this pilgrimage. As he was in Syria in 1184, only three years before the capture of Jerusalem by Sala- din, his statements possess a peculiar value. He observed the country and the people very carefully, and recorded his opinions impartially. The facts which he recounts throw a flood of light upon the conditions in Syria under, the Prankish rule. It is wisest to allow him to tell his own story in his own words, and not to divert the reader's attention by any comments.
We were at Damascus, and ready to set out for Acre. May Allah deliver this city into our hands! It was the time of the new moon and the beginning of the month of Djomada second, or Sunday, the ninth day of the month which the Christians call September. We were planning to embark, with some Christian merchants, on vessels built for sailing in autumn, and named by them salibiya. We did set out on Thursday evening, the fifth of this month (Djomada second), with a crowd of merchants who were going to Acre with their merchandise. We passed the night at Dariya, a village which was a parasang and a half from Damascus, and we set out again on Friday morning at daybreak for another place surrounded by hills and named Beit Djann. Saturday morning we set Out for Paneas. When we had gone half the way, we came to an oak with an enormous trunk and large branches, which they told us was called " the tree of the balance." In response to our questions, they said that the name was given because the tree marked on this road the boundary between security and the danger of attack by Frankish brigands, f. e., either scouts or highwaymen. They seize as prisoners all whom they find beyond this tree on the Mussulman side, even if it is only by a span's distance; on the contrary, whosoever is beyond the tree on the Prankish side by the same distance can continue his journey in freedom. This regulation, which had been agreed upon, was observed strictly. At that point is situated one of the most remarkable watch-towers that the Franks have set upon their frontiers.
This city of Paneas—may Allah protect it!—is the frontier town of the Mussulman territory. It is small, but has a castle surrounded by a stream which flows under the walls and runs toward one of the gates of the city. It is used to turn several mills. Noureddin reconquered this place from the Franks. In the neighboring plain there is a vast extent of cultivated land, dominated by a fort belonging to the Franks and named Honein. This is three parasangs from Paneas. The district formed by this plain is shared equally by the Franks and the Mussulmans,—i. e., the two peoples divide into equal shares the crops which grow in it, and the herds of the two peoples pasture together without any wrong being done by either party.