Aḥmad ibn Qāsim Al-Ḥajarī

Aḥmad ibn Qāsim Al-Ḥajarī ( _ar. أحمد بن قاسم الحجري) also Afokai ( _ar. أفوكاي) or Afoqai ( _ar. أفوقاي) was a Morisco, he worked as a translator in Morocco during the reigns of the Saadi sultans, Ahmad al-Mansur, Zidan Abu Maali, Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik II and Al Walid ibn Zidanar icon Abdulfattah Al-Hjamri, [http://saidbengrad.free.fr/inv/hojmripage/recitvoyage.htm المغرب والغرب-Morocco and the West] , Retrieved 2005-March-10] . He was later sent as an envoy by Sultan Zidan Abu Maali of Morocco who sent him to France and Netherlands to negotiate the release of some Moriscos who were captured by privateers and thrown on the shores of the mentioned countries. His importance lies in his chronicling of his journey which also contains a part on his fleeing the Inquisition with his family. His chronicles are titled: "The supporter of religion against disbelievers and the unsheathed sword on heathens" ( _ar. ناصر الدين على القوم الكافرين وهو السيف الأشهر على من كفر), which he authored in 1037 AH/1637 CE.ar icon Husam Tammam, [http://www.islamonline.net/arabic/arts/2002/03/article5.shtml تصحيح تاريخ العلاقات الإسلامية الهولندية-Revising the History of Islamic-Dutch Relations] , Retrieved 2005-March-10]

He is also known to have taught Erpenius Arabic.Alastair Hamilton, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0075-4390%281994%2957%3C123%3AAETITR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6 An Egyptian Traveller in the Republic of Letters: Josephus Barbatus or Abudacnus the Copt] Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 57. (1994), pp. 123-150. ]

References