3 Review(s)

This is the first English translation of Amir Ahmad Alawi's Safar-i-Saadat, an intimate account of the quintessentially Muslim journey, the hajj. While focusing on the soul-stirring effects of his first hajj, Alawi also catches the anomalies of Saudi life, especially the malpractices, monopolies, and misdeeds that had crept in the name of commerce. Not only an intimate account of what the individual saw and heard in the course of his travel, the work also records the author's candid commentaries on the social, economic, and political conditions of the places he passed through. The narrative, interspersed with Urdu verses, displays great poetic energy and inherent skill of word-play kept alive by the author's talent of handling comic scenes and expressing ridicule, especially, while referring to colonial officials. A detailed Introduction by Mushirul Hasan and Rakhshanda Jalil, while describing the well-known customs and practices associated with hajj, explores the geo-political situation of Hijaz and the battle for political ascendancy of the House of Saud, to place Alawi's account in perspective. The volume also includes a special piece, 'My Experience of the Hajj of 1916' by J.S. Kadri, information on movement of ships meant for Hajj passengers of 1929, and a glossary. Introduced and translated for the first time, this book will be of immense value to students and teachers of South Asian history, culture, and literature, as well as general readers interested in travel writing.