第1785期:A day in the Islamic Golden Age

As the morning sun shines on the Golden Gate Palace, brother and sister Hisham and Asma prepare for the journey of a lifetime. It is 791 CE, and the Abbasid Caliphate is at the height of its power, stretching from India to North Africa. With over half a million inhabitants, its capital city of Madinat al-Salaam, also known as Baghdad, is the largest in the Islamic Empire, possibly the world. And it's only 30 years old.

当晨曦照耀在金门宫时，希沙姆和阿斯玛兄妹正在为一生难忘的旅程做准备。现在是公元 791 年，阿拔斯哈里发正处于权力的顶峰，从印度一直延伸到北非。其首都古城萨拉姆（也称为巴格达）拥有超过 50 万居民，是伊斯兰帝国中最大的城市，可能是世界上最大的城市。而且才30岁。

Asma and Hisham will leave at sunset for the hajj, the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. Most people make the journey when they’re older and wealthier, but Hisham and Asma have wanted to make this journey together since they were children.

Asma 和 Hisham 将在日落时分前往麦加朝圣地朝圣。大多数人在年长和富有的时候开始了这段旅程，但 Hisham 和 Asma 从小就想一起完成这段旅程。

They intend to travel with the big hajj caravan that is protected by the caliph soldiers. The caliph Al-Rashid himself is also traveling with the caravan this year. The hajj caravan is like a massive mobile city, with soldiers, cooks, doctors and merchants, servants and enslaved people. The journey is long, with dangers like disease, robbery, and dehydration. Because of these perils, Hisham and Asma want to travel with the larger group— but a last-minute mishap threatens to undo months of careful planning.

他们打算乘坐由哈里发士兵保护的大朝觐商队。哈里发拉希德本人今年也与大篷车同行。朝觐商队就像一个巨大的移动城市，有士兵、厨师、医生和商人、仆人和奴隶。旅途漫长，伴随着疾病、抢劫和脱水等危险。由于这些危险，Hisham 和 Asma 想和更多人一起旅行——但最后一刻的意外可能会让数月的周密计划化为乌有。

When the siblings visit the market to check on the supplies they’ve purchased, the merchant tells them one of their camels has fallen ill, and he doesn't have any replacements.Without the camel, the siblings won't be able to depart with the caravan. They search the marketplace, bustling with people from different ethnic backgrounds, such as Persians, Arabs, Turks, Africans, and Indians, and following different religions like Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. The market sells everything from locally made pottery, Egyptian glass, and paper from Samarkand, to Chinese silk, gold from Africa, and fox fur from the distant north. But with the caravan leaving tonight, no one has a camel available.

当兄妹俩去市场检查他们购买的物资时，商人告诉他们他们的一只骆驼病了，他没有任何替代品。没有骆驼，兄妹俩将无法离开与大篷车。他们搜索市场，熙熙攘攘的人群来自不同的种族背景，如波斯人、阿拉伯人、土耳其人、非洲人和印度人，信奉不同的宗教，如伊斯兰教、犹太教、基督教和祆教。市场出售各种商品，从当地制造的陶器、埃及玻璃和撒马尔罕的纸张，到中国的丝绸、非洲的黄金和遥远北方的狐皮。但是今晚大篷车离开，没有人有骆驼可用。

Though the hajj is primarily a religious journey, the siblings have other, personal hopes for it. Hisham and Asma come from a wealthy family and both had tutors as children.Hisham is studying to become a scholar, progressing from Arabic grammar to Islamic law and Persian love poetry, then to Indian-inspired mathematics and Greek philosophy and medicine. With scholars from all over the empire traveling to Mecca and important intellectual centers on the way, the hajj is a great learning opportunity.

虽然朝觐主要是一次宗教之旅，但兄弟姐妹对此还有其他个人希望。 Hisham 和 Asma 都来自一个富裕的家庭，从小都有家庭教师。Hisham 正在学习成为一名学者，从阿拉伯语法到伊斯兰法律和波斯爱情诗歌，然后是印度启发的数学和希腊哲学和医学。来自帝国各地的学者前往麦加和途中的重要知识中心，朝觐是一个很好的学习机会。

Asma, meanwhile, has literary ambitions. As a woman, a life of formal scholarship is not available to her. Instead, she is honing her skills as a poet. She hopes to compose poetry about the journey that will catch the attention of important women in the city, and maybe even Queen Zubayda.The siblings split up to search for a camel. Hisham heads toward the library complex to ask the scholars’ advice. An elderly scholar studying Galen and Hippocrates tells him how to treat a wound. An Aramaic translator from Damascus shares a list of useful herbs for upset stomach on the road. A Persian poet wants to share his latest poetry, but Hisham doesn’t see how that will get him the camel for tonight, so he kindly refuses. As he says goodbye, they give him the names of important theology scholars to visit in Medina, on the way to Mecca. But to get there, he’ll need a camel.

与此同时，阿斯玛也有文学抱负。作为一名女性，她无法享受正规奖学金的生活。相反，她正在磨练自己作为诗人的技能。她希望创作有关旅程的诗歌，以引起城市中重要女性的注意，甚至可能引起祖拜达女王的注意。兄弟姐妹分手寻找骆驼。 Hisham 前往图书馆大楼征求学者们的意见。一位研究盖伦和希波克拉底的年长学者告诉他如何治疗伤口。来自大马士革的阿拉姆语翻译分享了一份在路上治疗胃部不适的有用草药清单。一位波斯诗人想分享他最新的诗歌，但 Hisham 不明白这将如何让他成为今晚的骆驼，所以他善意地拒绝了。在他告别时，他们给了他重要神学学者的名字，让他在前往麦加的途中去麦地那拜访。但要到达那里，他需要一头骆驼。

Meanwhile, Asma visits an older, married cousin. An enslaved girl opens the door, and takes Asma to the women’s quarters, where men cannot enter. Her cousin wants to hear Asma’s latest poetry, but Asma tells her she’s in a hurry and explains their predicament. She’s in luck— her cousin’s husband has a camel to offer them.With their arrangements secure at last, they make their final preparations. At the designated times for men and women, each performs a ritual ablution at one of Baghdad’s many public bathhouses.

与此同时，阿斯玛拜访了一位年长的已婚堂兄。一个被奴役的女孩打开门，把阿斯玛带到了男人不能进入的女性宿舍。她的表妹想听听阿斯玛最新的诗歌，但阿斯玛告诉她她很着急，并解释了他们的困境。她很幸运——她表哥的丈夫有骆驼可以送给他们。随着他们的安排终于确定下来，他们进行了最后的准备。在指定的男女时间，每个人都会在巴格达众多公共浴室之一进行仪式沐浴。

As the sun sets, the city’s criers announce the caravan’s departure, and the townspeople flock to watch the pilgrims leave.

太阳落山时，城市的告示者宣布商队出发，市民蜂拥而至观看朝圣者离开。