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The Journey of al-Tijānī to Tripoli at the beginning of the fourteenth century A.D./eighth century A.H.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2015

Michael Brett
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Extract

Al-Tijānī was a highly-placed scholar and man of letters at Tunis. At the beginning of the fourteenth century A.D., the eighth century A.H., he made a devious and slow journey from Tunis to a point between Tripoli and Misurata, returning much more directly. On the way he employed his considerable leisure to correspond with his acquaintances, often in verse, and still more to collect, by diligent inquiry, the material for the account which he wrote of his adventure. The journey itself became the thread upon which were strung descriptions of each place he visited, first the topography, then the history, the men of religion, and finally the poets illustrated by generous quotations from their works. In this way he managed to provide a great deal of information, at first and second hand, about the route and its interest, contemporary and antiquarian, for an educated gentleman with a taste for literature and literary composition. Some of this information is known to us from other sources; al-Tijānī belonged to the classical Arab literary tradition of the Maghrib as it grew by constant repetition. Some of it is new, because the author drew on works which have not otherwise survived. The rest is al-Tijānī's own contribution, his invaluable tale of what he did and saw. The resultant work, known as the Riḥla or Journey of al-Tijānī, was published in a French translation by Alphonse Rousseau in the Journal Asiatique in 1852–3; this excluded the poetry and a great deal of anecdote, which the translator considered to be ‘sujet de nul intérêt’. The translation itself is not always accurate; nevertheless it is valuable as a guide. The full Arabic text was published at Tunis in 1927, and in a critical edition in 1958.

Type
Research Article
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 7 , 1976 , pp. 41 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Libyan Studies 1976

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References

Notes

1. ‘Voyage du Scheikh Et-Tidjani dans la Régence de Tunis pendant les années 706, 707 et 708 de l'Hégire (1306–1309)’, traduit de l'Arabe par Rousseau, M. Alphonse, Journal Asiatique, 08-September 1852, 57–208Google Scholar; February–March 1853, 101–168; April–May 1853, 354–425.

2. Rihla de Abdallah Tidjani: relation de voyage en Tunisie et en Tripolitanie (de 1306 à 1308 J.C.), préface de Abdul-Wahab, H. H., Tunis, 1958Google Scholar.

3. For a brief description of the background, cf. Abun-Nasr, J. M., A History of the Maghrib, 2nd ed., Cambridge, 1975, 143–7Google Scholar.

4. Riḥla; text, 179; trans., 1853, 102.

5. Ibid., 184–204; 1853, 108–18.

6. Ibid., 191–2; 1853, 114–5.

7. Ibid., 197; 1853, 115–6.

8. Ibid., 204; 1853, 117–8.

9. Ibid., 206; 1853, 119.

10. Ibid., 206–7; 1853, 120.

11. Ibid., 212; 1853, 124–5.

12. Ibid., 206–12; 1853, 120–5; note the spellings Zuwāra and Zuwāgha, which on some older maps are confused, the two places being given as Zuwāgha(t) al-Gharbiya and Zuwāgha(t) al-Sharqiya (Zouagha el Gharbiya and Zouagha ech Cherguiya).

13. Ibid., 214–5; 1853, 129.

14. Ibid., 220–1; 1853, 134.

15. Ibid., 237 ff.; 1853, 135 ff.

16. Ibid., 306–16; 1853, 160–8.

17. Ibid., 393; 1853, 425.

18. Cf. my article, Brett, Michael, ‘The Zughba at Tripoli, 429H (1037–8 A.D.)’, The Society for Libyan Studies, Sixth Annual Report, 1974-5, 41–7Google Scholar.

19. Riḥla; text, 15–22; trans., 1852, 83–96.

20. Ibid., 16; 1852, 84.

21. Ibid., 59; 1852, 123.

22. Ibid., 85; 1852, 138.

23. Ibid., 117–8; 1852, 165.

24. Ibid., 119; 1852, 166; cf. al-Ḥakam, Ibn ʿAbd, La Conquete de l'Afrique du Nord et de l'Espagne par les Arabes, ed. and trans. Gateau, A., 2nd ed., Algiers, 1948, 136–7Google Scholar.

25. Ibid., loc. cit.

26. Ibid., 132; 1852, 182, passage omitted.

27. Ibid., 56; 1852, 116–17, passage omitted.

28. Ibid., 180–1; 1853, 103–4.

29. Ibid., 70; 1852, 129–30.

30. Ibid., 104, 110–1; 1852, 154–5, 157.

31. Ibid., 118; 1852, 165.

32. Ibid., 86; 1852, 139.

33. Ibid., 85–6, 118, 141; 1852, 139, 165–6, 190.

34. Ibid., 66; 1852, 124–5.

35. Cf. Peters, Emrys, ‘The Proliferation of Segments in the Lineage of the Bedouin of Cyrenaica’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, XC, 1960, 29–53Google Scholar.

36. Riḥla; text, 134; trans. 1852, 184–5.

37. Ibid., 212–3, ref. 118; 1853, 126, ref. 1852, 165.

38. Ibid., 134; 1852, 184–5.

39. Ibid., 206; 1853, 119.

40. Ibid., 307; 1853, 161.

41. Ibid., 205, 207; 1853, 118, 121.

42. Ibid., 197; 1853, 116, passage omitted.

43. Ibid., 188; 1853, 114.

44. Ibid., 65–6; 1852, 124–5; cf. al-Hakam, Ibn ʿAbd, Conquete, 46–9Google Scholar; ʿIdhāī, Ibn, Kitāb al-Bayān al-Mughrib, ed. Colin, G. S. and Lévi-Provencal, E., Vol. 1, Leiden, 1948, 36Google Scholar.

45. Cf. Louis, André, ‘Contacts entre culture ‘berbère’ et culture arabe dans le Sud tunisien’, Actes du Premier Congrès d'Etudes des Cultures Méditerranéennes d'Influence Arabo–Berbère, ed. Galley, M. and Marshall, D. R., Algiers, 1973Google Scholar.

46. Cf. Brett, , ‘Zughba’, 44–5Google Scholar.

47. Riḥla; text, 185–6; trans. 1853, 110–1.

48. Ibid.

49. Ibid., 187; 1853, 112.

50. Ibid., 188; 1853, 113.

51. Ibid., 187, 188; 1853, 111, 113.

52. Ibid., 187, 187–8; 1853, 111, 113.

53. Ibid., 187; 1853, 112, passage omitted.

54. Ibid., 207–8; 1853, 121.

55. Ibid., 210; 1853, 122–3.

56. Ibid., 211; 1853, 124.

57. Ibid., 212–3; 1853, 126–7.

58. Cf. Evans-Pritchard, E. E., The Sanusi of Cyrenaica, Oxford, 1949, 51–4, 65–70Google Scholar.

59. Riḥla; text, 215; trans., 1853, 128.

60. Ibid., 215; 1853, 130.

61. Ibid., 214–8; 1853, 129–32.

62. Cf. Stern, S. M., Fāṭimid Decrees, London, 1964, 123–65, esp. 135–7Google Scholar.

63. Riḥla; text, 217; trans., 1853, 131–2.

64. Ibid., 217–8; 1853, 132.

65. Cf. al-Hakam, Ibn ʿAbd, Conquete, 34–5Google Scholar; Brunschvig, Robert, ‘Ibn Abdalh'akam et la Conquête de l'Afrique du Nord par les Arabes’, Annales de l'Institute des Etudes Orientales, Algiers, VI, 1942–1947, 110–8Google Scholar.

66. Cf. supra, n.24.

67. Riḥla; text, 218; trans., 1853, 132.

68. For examples cf. e.g. Idris, H. R., La Berbérie orientale sous les Zīrīdes, Paris, 1962, 622–4Google Scholar.