he following text was written in Araby about three hundred years ago by an Arab by the name of Hasan Ibn Sabah. As far as we know the author travelled from Araby to Nippon in a period of thirty years. Since the author has written down his observations of the various small kingdoms on his way and their customs we have felt that it may be interesting for our readers to learn some of these things in order to conduct their business more efficiently with these lands and avoid any social error. Although most of the rulers mentioned below are long deceased, it is unlikely that the customs have changed very much.
It may be necessary to tell the reader something about the author. Although he is long deceased and we have little direct information from him, we have been able to extrapolate some facts both from his own writings and from other authors that refer to him. Hasan Ibn Sabah seems to have come from a town called Tanfar, that is situated in the southlands. His father seems to have been a merchant, who traded in salt shipped from the heart of the desert to the coast. As far as we know Hasan was sent to Araby in order to study theology and law. It is unknown if he ever finished his education. What we know for sure is that he travelled to the main shrine of his religion, situated in Marraket. Later he visited the shrine two more times. He did not return for twenty-eight years after leaving Tanfar. During his travels he met many of the local rulers and thanks to his pilgrimage to the shrine in Marraket he seems to have enjoyed a great deal of respect. This shows that the Arabian religion, no matter how heretical it may be, is more widespread that we have assumed.
Since some of the aspects mentioned below may appear to be alien to our readers, we have decided to add notes in italics whenever it was felt necessary. It should be noted that the sympathy the author has for some people seems to be dependend on the treatment he received from these people, rather than an objective point of view.

Marienburg in the year twothousandfourhundredandnintyeight

Marinus van de Lübbe,

Willem van de Geyn

Clerics of Hændryk in Marienburg