Douglas Bullis

In the early 14th century, a well-educated young man set out from Tangier, on the western edge of the Islamic world, to make the pilgrimage to Makkah. But unlike most pilgrims, he went on from there, beginning some 30 years of travel that took him as far as China, on the Islamic world’s other edge. As he roamed three continents he earned his living, and a growing reputation, as a judge, advisor and diplomat in the service of local rulers; survived piracy, shipwreck and royal disfavor; and saw more of the world than anyone else in his time. When he finally returned to Morocco, the memoirs he dictated became a turning point in Arab literature.