Description
The literature of travel and exploration is no stranger to the Arab literary tradition. We are well acquainted with renowned travelers such as Ibn Battuta, al-Muqaddasi, Ibn Jubayr, al-Idrisi, and others, all of whom made significant contributions to this field. Conversely, only a meager fraction of works by Western travelers has been translated into Arabic or published in the Arab world—far too little to provide the Arab reader with a comprehensive and holistic view of how the West perceived the Arab and Islamic East. The nineteenth century, in particular, abounds with dozens of such travelogues, yet fewer than a handful have ever been translated.
That Jamal Abu Ghaida has taken it upon himself to translate three of these works over the course of a decade is an achievement that even specialized official or research institutions might struggle to accomplish.
His objective, however, remains crystal clear: to uncover what Westerners understood about our peoples and our region. I extend my deepest gratitude to Jamal Abu Ghaida for this monumental effort. I previously had the honor of writing the introduction to his translation of a book by James Finn, and it is now my privilege to provide the introduction to his translation of the work by William Lynch.
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