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Ibn battuta book of travels12/21/2023 ![]() ![]() He accepts miraculous events with a candor I have not found in any other Middle Age traveler of those lands (from Marco Polo to the Jesuits). As he explores with brio this world, he unfolds himself and as in most cross-cultural encounters, this maybe one of the most interesting features of the book. By avoiding to travel the same route twice, he comes to the same places a number of times (Baghdad, Delhi) spinning and zigzagging his ways through mountains and seas. Ibn Batuta describes his encounters with peoples and lands west of his native Tangiers (Morocco) in the 14 C. Even if you try a version of the full text, I recommend reading Ross 1st to help make the text more comprehensible & meaningful. Unfortunately, most other versions aren't complete and only cover parts of the travels. If you must read the real book as well, don't try this one. It may not have every word of the work, but it more than makes up for it by providing tons of cultural and historical background and by being very readable. To really get a good idea of Ibn's travels, read the 'Adventures of Ibn.' by Ross. Not to mention the fact that for all but experts in the Muslim world, much of this book would be very difficult to understand and much would be missed. There seem to be missing parts and the ordering does not reflect the true itinerary. Likewise the notes are very dated and not very helpful. This is actually a translation from the 1820s so the translation is very archaic & the spelling of the Arabic names is very nonstandard compared to modern transliteration equivalents. Owing to its incompleteness, however, I can only give it a qualified recommendation. Lee.įinally, the Dover edition is aesthetically pleasing and printed on high quality paper. It would appear that that reviewer is merely revealing more of his own limitations than those of the Rev. I would ignore the review of this book that awarded this work only one star. This is a minor quibble as such an exercise would require the translator to also be a historical geographer. However, some of the places are arcane and there is no attempt to decipher them. The translation includes, in numerous footnotes, various terms and places in Arabic. Lee provides valuable notes and, in his preface, provides an insightful historiography. Interspersed throughout the translation, Rev. Nonetheless, this book is an interesting historical document in itself. This is made clear from the back cover of the Dover publication of Rev. It is not the fault of the translator inasmuch as he translated from an abridged Arabic manuscript. A lot of interesting material has been excised. I experienced a bit of disappointment when I compared this volume, which covers Ibn Batuta's travels in 243 pages, to the Arabic version I have "Rihla Ibn Batuta" Dar Al Beirut (1997) which describes his travels from page 14 to page 701.
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