- 1 - THE ROLE OF ARAB SEAFARERS IN THE EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE Published in Al-Machriq, 2017, V. 91(1): 295-306 Marina Apaydin The American University of Beirut P.O.Box 11-0236 / OSB Riad El-Solh / Beirut 1107 2020 Lebanon mapaydin@aucegypt.edu Abstract This paper discusses the role of informal affinity networks of Arab sea navigators (muʿallim) in the development of the geographical knowledge. The history of such development is shortly traced with a special attention paid to the works of Shihābuddīn Aḥmad Ibn Mājid al-Najdī (~1440/~1510) available in the St Petersburg University archives. Aḥmad Ibn Mājid was born around 1440 in a family of Muʿallims: his father and grandfather were navigators. At the age of 22, he finished “A Short Account about the Basis of the Maritime Science.” Later, he wrote another 20 short instructions in the same poetic style rajaz. The most important work of Ibn Mājid was “The Useful Knowledge about the Basis and Rules of the Maritime Sciences” (al-Fawāʾid Fī ṣūl al-Baḥr wa l- Qawāʿid) that he started writing at the age of 35. It took Ibn Mājid 15 years to finish this monumental work, written in prose with occasional injections of verses of famous Arab poets and his own. Key words: Arab geographers, Arabic literature, Arab seafarers