In the footsteps of Ibn Battuta.

“Traveling - it gives you home in a thousand strange places, then leaves you a stranger in your own land.” - Ibn Battuta, ( أبو عبد الله محمد ابن بطوطة.)

I left Dubai last week, hopping on a bus to Abu Dhabi airport from the Ibn Battuta station. The name Ibn Battuta sounded familiar but I had to do some research to refresh my memory. One could say this extraordinary writer and explorer is the Islamic world’s answer to Marco Polo (although in fairness, Battuta travelled far further).

Born in Tangier, Morocco in 1304, Ibn Battuta started on his first hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) at the age of 21. He reached the Kaaba in 1326, but Battuta must have had itchy feet: this was to be the genesis of a lifetime of travels, which took him through Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, Syria, Arabia, via the Strait of Hormuz (just by modern-day Dubai), to Yemen and Oman, then Anatolia, Byzantium, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, before reaching India, where he would work as the grand qadi of Delhi. After serving in the sultan’s court, he then continued into Southern India, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bengal and onwards to China and modern-day Indonesia. In later life, he travelled to Granada (Moorish Spain), Mali and Sudan.

It is interesting to note that the profession of ‘travel writer’ wasn’t exactly common at that time. Travellers did so for practical reasons like trade or pilgrimage. Battuta was a trailblazer in his desire to travel for “its own sake, for the joy of learning about new countries and new peoples” (Britannica).

In the estimated region of 120,000 km later, Battuta died in his native Morocco in 1377. His journeys are recounted in his book, Rihlah (meaning ‘voyage’ in Arabic).

It is a sobering thought that, as I cross these lands, albeit with the luxury of trains and cars instead of camels, I am (unintentionally) following in Ibn Battuta’s footsteps. Wherever I go, it seems he beat me to it. Although, I’m pretty sure he didn’t see the Burj Khalifa, or devour his own weight in kunafa crêpes like I did, when he passed through the Strait of Hormuz.

First illustration above by Léon Benett.

Photos are some moments from my days in Dubai.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ea00a9_96130e3aedff43ceb6012216bb25a1c0/1080p/mp4/file.mp4