Overview of the Book

Travel is the very eye through which geography sees. It is in this sense that travel forms a bridge between geography and literature. In travel writing, the observer combines descriptions of the physical realities encountered on the journey with the personal impressions that arise from the sense of estrangement experienced while traveling.

Arab and Islamic civilization became renowned for its rich tradition of travel literature, producing distinguished travelers such as Al-Masudi, Al-Muqaddasi, Al-Idrisi of Al-Andalus, Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Battuta, and many others. They journeyed across vast regions of the known world, documenting its lands and offering vivid portrayals of their age, along with detailed accounts of the customs and traditions of the peoples and tribes they encountered.

Although Al-Mazini lived in an era marked by remarkable advances in transportation and communication that brought people closer together across much of the world, he believed that travel remained more profound in meaning, more moving to the soul, and more truthful in its testimony. For this reason, he intended his book Journey to the Hijaz to represent a continuation of the long historical tradition of travel writing within modern Arabic literature