Safar Nama
- Author died
- 481 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kitāb al-Jadīd
Safar Nama (Book of Travels) is a Persian travelogue written by the poet, philosopher, and Isma'ili scholar Nasir Khusraw (d. 481 AH / 1088 CE; another report gives 453 AH / 1061 CE), documenting his seven-year journey across the Islamic world between 437 and 444 AH (1045–1052 CE) .
Background and Departure
The author, Abu al-Mu'in Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiyani al-Marwazi (also described as al-Isbahani), was employed as a financial administrator and chancery official in the diwan under the Seljuk ruler Abu Sulayman Chaghri Beg Dawud in Khorasan . In Rabi' al-Akhir 437 AH, while on official duties departing from Marw, he resolved to renounce wine and worldly distractions after experiencing an admonitory dream, which prompted him to embark on a pilgrimage to Mecca .
Route and Contents
The narrative traces a route starting from Marw and traversing northern Iran—including Semnan, Rayy, Qazvin, Tarom, and Tabriz—before passing through Armenia and Azerbaijan (including Khoy, Van, Vastan, and Akhlat) . Nasir Khusraw continued through the Levant (Syria and Palestine), Fatimid Cairo, the Hijaz, Najd, and southern Iraq, before concluding his journey back in Iran at Balkh in Khorasan .
The work serves as a primary source for medieval Islamic travel literature, offering firsthand observations of contemporary Islamic society, urban landscapes, and regional governance . It incorporates geographical dimensions, architectural measurements, descriptions of local economies and coinage, and accounts of meetings with prominent figures, scholars, and poets, such as the Persian poet Qatran in Tabriz . Haji Khalifa notes in Kashf al-Zunun that the work records Nasir Khusraw's journeys across most of the inhabited regions and recounts the dialogues and anecdotes exchanged with dignitaries along the way .
Editions and Translations
The Persian text of Safar Nama was published in Paris in 1881 by Charles Schefer, followed by later editions printed in Tehran (1314 solar AH), Ghazni (1340 solar AH), and Berlin (1341 solar AH) . It was translated into Turkish by Abdulbaki Golpinarli (published in Istanbul, 1945), into Arabic by Yahya al-Khashshab, and into English (published in New York, 1985) .
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