Lonely Wayfarer's Guide to Pilgrimage

by Josef W. Meri, 'Ali Ibn Abi Bakr Harawi

More than 800 years ago, an Iraqi scholar, teacher, preacher, ascetic, pilgrim, ambassador, and counsellor to the 'Abbsid caliph left his native Iraq and settled in Syria. 'Alî ibn Abî Bakr al-Harawî (d. 611/1215) came to serve Saladin (r. 564/1169–589/1193) and his sons as an advisor and an emissary to Christian rulers. Al-Harawî lived in an age in which the Jews and Christians of the Islamic world lived in relative peace and prosperity, even while Muslims were at war with the Crusaders. This period witnessed the spread of Sûfî orders, the construction of domed shrines, and the growth of pilgrimage activities throughout the Islamic world and Mediterranean. Al-Harawî's Kitb al-ishrt il ma'rifat al-ziyrt is the only known medieval pilgrimage guide for the Islamic world, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. This unique account is presented by Josef Meri in a meticulously annotated English translation along with the parallel Arabic text, and an accessible introductio

Genres: History

351 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005