Section
As for the weapon designated as the foot-drawn bow (1), it is of two kinds.

The first is the Turkish model.

The second is the jarakh bow, a device equipped with a nut and a key. The archers of the Maghrib pay it great attention and regard it as superior.

Those who champion the hand-drawn bow, however, denounce it. They say that no rational man should shoot with it or place his trust in it (2). They list the hazards, defects, artificial complexity, frequent malfunctions, and the heavy burden of carrying it (3), adding that it betrays its owner in the heat of combat: the warrior can rarely discharge more than a single shaft before the enemy closes with him.

They continue: its user inflicts little damage; once his one arrow is spent he becomes a helpless captive. He cannot manage a shield together with the bow—neither a large buckler nor a hide targe. He can shoot only from behind a rampart or a rock that conceals him; should he be forced to shoot on open ground, he must have two shield-bearers standing over him until he looses. How vast the difference between a man who shoots through a narrow slit in a wall and one who steps out into the open plain, casting his gaze—and his arrows—where he wills! The former can target only a narrow strip directly in front of him.