'This book is a delight to read ... a fascinating eighteenth-century diary with details on the socio-economic and political conditions of the countries Ibn al-Tayyib witnessed on his caravan journey to the Hijaz ...which fills an important gap in the history of North African travel writing.' - Dionisius A. Agius, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Material Culture, University of Exeter; 'This book is an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of the Hijaz through travel literature. It concentrates on the unpublished manuscript of Ibn al-Tayyib's Rihla (Rihla ila al-Hijaz) and is unique in itself for the sheer volume of detail concerning not only al-Tayyib's journey but also an inclusive account of his life, clarity of observation of his surroundings, his description of geographical locations and cultural and theological encounters. Mustapha Lahlali, Salah Al-Dihan and Wafa Abu Hatab, by translation of this manuscript, provide invaluable information for academics across a wide range of disciplines and this book will prove to be an important source of information, which would otherwise prove impossibly elusive.' - Anne Macklin, Former Lecturer in Islamic Art and Architecture, Civilisation and Material Culture, University of Leeds