Written more than eight hundred years ago and now translated into English. This is the first hand account of a wise and scholarly Spanish Muslim's pilgrimage to Makka and Madina, the two holy cities of Islam, and his travels to Baghdad, the city of the Caliphs, to the first onslaught of Salah al-din. Greatly detailed is his journey through Egypt anf the many towns and villages to the Hijaz, Arabia and beyond. A predecessor to Ibn Batuta. Translated by Ronald Broadhurst.

The reader is kept closely en rapport with the original author, the translation being as exact as English syntax and style will permit, abiding faithfully by the words, arrangement and imagery, and following the rigorous canons of oriental scholarship. Ronald Broadhurst has worked under the guidance of Professor Arberry, Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge.

The book is provided with full notes that include not only those of a specialist character that a scholarly work of this type requires but also those that will help and even entertain the general reader.