1400CE
Dear Journal, What a wonderful day! As a farmer days are pretty repetitive but I am just happy to be alive. I get to tend crops all day and do some other small tasks. With life possibly being so short I try to live my life to the fullest potential. When I woke up this morning I got up and got ready for my day. I first went out and checked on all the crops and watered them. My favorites are the grapes they are so cute and small. They taste so good especially after they are ripe enough. After I was done with tending my crops I took the crops that were ripe and ready to be traded to the village. It is a pretty far walk but during that time I like to use it to think. There is so much wildlife and other people to watch. I watch people holding up their standards to their religion, Like praying and reading the Quran. Not everything was going other people's ways though. Some people were really ill, my guess is they had some how gotten a disease from a foreign bug or food. I always try to make sure my cops are well washed off before I send them away so I don't cause a death even though the death rates are pretty high. So as soon as I get to the export place I clean off the crops and trade them for some good meat. Then I head home. When I head home it is nearly dark. So I hurry and don't take my time as much. When I got home I read the Quran and went to sleep. I was very pleased with my days work. sincerely , Abida the farmer
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October 687
As I look all about me, I am sad to realize that I am the last one. I am the last person alive who has known our prophet Muhammad. I remember when he received the truth from the angel Gabriel and I remember when I started following him. That was seventy-five years ago. No one else who knew him as a man is alive anymore, or if they are, they are not of a personality to speak out and share their experiences with the Prophet. I will have to share of my experiences instead. Muhammad was a man who was not just like the rest of us. Though he did start at humble beginnings like myself and my father before me, Muhammad was one who embodied all the qualities for which all men strive for. He was intelligent enough to know when he was being cheated in any way and witty enough to negotiate out a deal that was fair and benefited all. He had a sense of humor and loved to play with the children of the streets, giving out what he could in charity and lowering prices for those who could not always afford the necessities he sold, but he also knew when grave seriousness was in order. He was kind with his heart of gold and always had a moment of time to spare talking to a fellow trader or helping an elder accomplish even the most mundane of asks. Muhammad was the embodiment of everything good. I had the pleasure of knowing him before he received his revelations and after. Before he was a man who was amazing in all the before mentioned ways, but lacked a purpose in life. And after he was a man who had finally found his reason for being on this planet. He used all of his learned skills in life to spread a spirituality that has already benefited so many in the short time it has been known. Muhammad is becoming something of a legend, and although he is the Prophet sent messages from Allah himself, he was also just a man as mortal as you and me. He lived and died believing in the truth, just as I will do. Islam will spread and dominate the world because of its undeniable truth, of this I am sure. May all who read my message be blessed by Allah himself. Allah 'akbar. March 639
Again, I hove not reflected like this in a long time. Things are going well, the caliph is ruling the region well and the reach of Islam is ever expanding. I feel as if our wonderful caliph is embodying everything that we believe in and he is leading us into the golden age of Islam, long may it last. Ever since I realized the truth of Islam, I have lived this way of life, lead by faith and trust in Allah and my peers. But recently I have been thinking back to the war we fought over Mecca. In the beginning of my journey with Muhammad, we were all banished to Medina because many people were afraid of the way we worshiped our own god, Allah. They thought we were going to destroy their ancestral way of blood and sacrifice. So they persecuted us and sent us away from the great city of Mecca. Later on we did come back to Mecca, with a steadily growing army, and began to fight against the polytheistic ancestrals to win the city. We held out for a long time and eventually won, not killing everyone but still causing a considerable number of casualties. What we did after this is the thought provoking part. We did exactly as the original inhabitants of Mecca had feared and thus banished us for. We destroyed their religions. Everything that represented this ancestral ways of life from the totems to the few existing words, we destroyed irrevocably. What I am thinking about is, if the Meccans had not worried and pre-emptively banished us from the city, would we even have a cause to come back and destroy their faiths? Did their worry cause their downfall? I am worried that we may come upon a situation like this in our live under the defense of Islam, but our choices will be guided by Allah. June 633
I know it has been a long time since I last reflected on myself in this way, but now the times call for it. The Prophet Muhammad died last year. But Islam has not died with him. Many people worried that when our prophet died our religion would as well. There was a small amount of civil unrest from those who do not truly believe in the power of God, but myself and some others calmed them with readings from a book of scriptures we are compiling. I think we will call it the Quran. Recently the elders have selected a new man to rule over Islam, and other peoples as well, as the caliph. I believe he will guide us according to God's will and the Empire of Islam will be beautiful! February 29, 1101
It took about three months just to make it to India and I have already traded many things like wheat and barley for spices, tea, and herbs in the short time I have been in this foreign land. Maybe if we see some more crusaders while we are making our way back home then we will be able to trade some of these spices with them. I have also learned that many traders from Byzantium are actually sailing around the tip of Africa to reach India and China for trade, I guess the Crusades are making a much bigger impact on world trade than I thought. October 26, 1100
Many more people are becoming afraid to go through where the Crusades are, but maybe if they trade with the crusaders it will all be OK. Anyways, tomorrow I and some other traders are going on a ship to India to hopefully find some newer and better functioning trade routes. We’re doing this because many other traders have stopped coming to our lands and the local trade is dying. If we can find some more trade routes that will bypass the crusaders then maybe the economy will not completely die out. July 7, 1100
Today I strangely traded with a crusader even though they are supposed to be “taking back the holy land”. And even though I am an Infidel to him, it wasn’t bad. He told me about the Crusades and I told him about numbers. They needed some food and water so they traded cotton and ship compasses, which we need for next week, for some rice, melons, and lemons. Even though it's their fault that trade is bad, it seemed like they really needed it. June 11, 1100
Some traders and I are going through where the Crusades are happening (the Jerusalem area) and many of them are scared to be doing this, so now we have to go at night and not try to be seen. I am sure we aren’t going to see them, but I am also worried that we will have fewer people to trade with due to the presence of the crusaders. I have heard of many trading caravans being attacked by the crusaders and all of the merchants being killed simply for their beliefs. I am kind of afraid to be a Muslim, but I know Allah will protect me from the Crusades. June15, 1099
At long last, we have retaken the holy city. We got to Jerusalem on June 7 and set up our camps outside the holy city. Unfortunately for us, the Infidels had poisoned the nearby water sources and set ablaze every tree within a fifty mile radius, but luckily by the grace of God we found some wood just inside a cave where we build up our towers to breach the walls of the holy city. Then, we slaughtered every infidel we saw! No citizen left standing! We took back what was rightfully ours, and now we have regained the holy land. DEUS VULT!!! June 15, 1098
It’s been a long siege. For seven months we have put the city of Antioch under siege and only a week ago did they surrender. Today god put forth two miracles on us: we dug under the church today since we heard a Turkish army was coming to retake the city, but we found the holy lance! That helped us defeat the turks today as well, as god either melted them away or they simply fled before our incandescent devotion to our god the savior! Anyway, we will soon be on our way to the holy land, and then we will retake what has been taken from us! DEUS VULT! #ONTHEWAYTOJERUSALEM #TURKSARETOAST #DEUSVULT #DIEINFIDELS #SAVEJERUSALEM #RETAKETHEHOLYLAND #BLESSED |
Authors
Learn about the past from those who lived through it. Explore the lives of peasants, merchants, crusaders, and time travelers. Time PeriodMeet these peoples from 600CE to 1450CE. From shortly after the fall of the Roman Empire to right before Christopher Columbus sailed across the Pacific Ocean.
Who is Whom?The Time Traveler is written by Veronica Villegas.
The Follower of Muhammad is written by Sarah Norris. The Farmer is written by Tatum Bronson. The Crusader is written by Max Woolverton. The Trader is written by Angelo Bahe. |