The Journeys Of Ibn Battuta's Journey To Fez

After Ibn Battuta returned to Fez in 1354, Abu Inan Faris, the sultan of Morrocco, listened to his report on Mali as well as his other adventures and ordered him to stay in Fez. The sultan wanted to have these stories written down for the amusement of his family and others. So Ibn Battuta was commanded to dictate an account of the cities which he had seen in his travel, and of the interesting events which had clung to his memory, and of the rulers of countries whom he had met.

The Sultan hired a young writer - Ibn Juzayy al-Kalabi – a young man Ibn Battuta had met three years earlier in Granada. Ibn Battuta dictated an account of his journeys to Ibn Juzzay, who was to put the stories into the proper form of a travel book. The full title of the book of his journeys is Tuhfat al-anzar fi gharaaib al-amsar wa ajaaib al-asfar (A gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the marvels of traveling), commonly referred to as Rihla

Ibn Battuta wove his observations and hearsay, history and odds and ends into his story. Perhaps Ibn Juzayy added poetry here and there and a little fiction from time to time for the purpose of easy communication and entertainment. He also borrowed descriptions of Medina, Mecca and Damascus from a twelfth century traveller named Ibn Jubayr to fill gaps in Ibn Battuta’s descriptions, and possibly descriptions of other places from other travelers too, but on the whole he is believed to have strictly followed Ibn Battuta 's narrative

Ibn Battuta