The Essence of the Discourse

From the Oldest Arabic Travel Literature

In their interdisciplinary pursuits, sciences were not limited to the intertwining of the humanistic, scientific, literary, or philosophical alone; we also find this in the interconnected human sciences. There are important relationships linking literature with anthropology, sociology, epistemology, and the like. However, literary geography—unfortunately—has not gained wide popularity, with only a handful of researchers, writers, and critics directing their studies toward this genre of literature. This is particularly true given that the Arab heritage abounds with many records left by early geographers, works worthy of revealing the Arab's relationship with the Other, and identifying the image of places and non-Arab regions and their presence in ancient Arab thought.

Arabic travel literature is considered a form of this cognitive and creative intertwining, especially as it falls within the ancient literary genres. It is a written prose composed by writers, geographers, and Muslim merchants through their journeys, the beginnings of which date back to around the Abbasid era. They relied in this type of writing on direct observation, current documentation, and realistic recording that speaks of the era and bears witness to it.

This genre of writing may distance itself from literary imagination because it is occupied with other goals, such as drawing commercial or political maps, or documenting the lives of other peoples. Therefore, this literature has characteristics and features, including: eyewitness recording, field documentation, linguistic simplicity, avoidance of linguistic affectation, focus on the Other as a center of interest, in addition to observing strange customs and cultures and recording some behaviors.

The Arabs recorded many land and sea journeys since they became acquainted with deserts and seas, such as the journey of Abu Dulaf al-Khazraji al-Yanbu'i, the journey of Ibn Battuta, the journey of Ibn Jubayr, and the sea voyages of Sinbad, which in many of their descriptions were not devoid of oddities and wonders. All this falls within the geography of literature and travel literature in general. Among the oldest of these journeys is the journey of Sallam al-Turjuman to the Caucasus Mountains and the edges of Asia, which took place between 227 AH and 232 AH, when the Abbasid Caliph al-Wathiq Billah sent him on an exploratory mission to search for the barrier of Gog and Magog.

Also among the oldest journeys is the journey of Sulayman al-Sirafi, who appears to be the first Arab traveler to explore the Malay lands in the third century AH. It is a unique journey in Arab history, full of scenes and events. It seems that this Arab traveler preceded all pioneers and explorers, both Arab and non-Arab, in this journey. He described the wonders and marvels he witnessed not only in the Malay lands (Malaysia and Indonesia) and their surroundings but also in India, China, and Japan. Therefore, he can be considered a first model, especially since he wrote this journey in an engaging literary style that attracts the reader.

Also among the ancient journeys: the journey of Ibn Fadlan (309 AH) from Baghdad to the lands of the Turks, the Rus, and the Saqaliba (Volga). The importance of this journey lies in its being the first complete diplomatic journey, composed in a beautiful literary narrative language. It provided the earliest and most accurate Western description of Viking culture and the peoples of northern Europe. The journey of Ibn Fadlan and his companions began at the behest of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir to convey Islam to the land of the Slavs. What is striking about it is the length of the travel and the duration of the journey.

Hence, we see that such journeys and subsequent ones are primary creative works that deserve attention, as they accurately depict the wondrous worlds of the East and West. Moreover, they are journeys that attract you to read them and entice you not to leave them until you reach their end. They paved the way for successive journeys later.