Taj al-Mufarraq fi Tahliyat Ulama al-Mashriq
- Author died
- 768 AH
- Editions
- Taj al-Mufarraq fi Tahliyat Ulama al-Mashriq
Taj al-Mufarraq fi Tahliyat Ulama al-Mashriq (The Crown of the Parting of the Hair in Adorning the Scholars of the East), commonly known as Rihlat al-Balawi, is a 14th-century travelogue written by the Andalusian Maliki jurist and judge Khalid ibn Isa al-Balawi (d. after 768 AH / 1366 CE) . The work records his journey from al-Andalus to the Maghrib, Egypt, and the Hijaz to perform the pilgrimage and meet notable scholars of his era .
Background and Composition
Al-Balawi embarked on his journey toward the Hijaz in 737 AH and completed his return in 740 AH . During the travel, he was accompanied by his contemporary, the Granadan writer Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn al-Hajj . Al-Balawi's brother had set out ahead of him for the Hijaz, and the two later met in Alexandria . During his return, al-Balawi stayed for a period in Tunis, where he briefly served in the royal chancery for its ruler, before returning to al-Andalus and assuming judicial office in Qanturiya (Cantaray) . He completed compiling the work in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal 767 AH .
The work is known under variant title phrasings in biographical and bibliographical literature, including Taj al-Mufarraq fi Tahliyat Ahl al-Mashriq and Taj al-Mufarraq fi Tahliyat Ulama al-Maghrib wa-al-Mashriq .
Scope and Method
The work combines geographical itinerary, personal memoir, and biographical dictionaries (fahrasa and mashyakha) . Al-Balawi documents his visits to urban centers across North Africa, Egypt, and western Arabia, recording descriptions of landmarks and holy sites such as Medina alongside his own devotional poetry .
A central feature of the text is its detailed biographical entries (tarājim) on the teachers and scholars al-Balawi encountered across the Islamic East and West . These entries include prominent Western figures such as his father, Abd al-Aziz al-Qawri, Abu Rashid, Abd al-Mu'min al-Janati, Abd al-Rahman al-Jazuli and his son Muhammad, Abu Musa Ibn al-Imam, Abu Imran al-Mashdhali, Ibn Abd al-Salam, Ibn Harun, Ibn Baddal, and Ibn al-Bara', as well as Ibn Abd al-Sattar, Isa ibn Makhluf al-Mughili, and Ibn Umar . Al-Balawi provides extensive praise for these figures, quotes their poetry and literary output, and documents the general teaching licenses (ijāzāt) they granted him .
Reception and Transmission
The book was praised by later Maghribi and Andalusian biographers. Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib commended al-Balawi's record of his pilgrimage and noted the elegance of both his prose and verse . Ahmad al-Maqqari described the travelogue as containing "abundant benefits" . The Maliki biographer Muhammad Makhluf observed that the work is replete with rare scholarly and literary benefits spanning multiple disciplines .
Manuscripts of Taj al-Mufarraq are preserved in various collections, including the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, the Qarawiyyin Mosque Library in Fez, the Zaytuna Mosque Library in Tunis, the General Library and Royal Library in Rabat, and the National Library of France in Paris . The text was edited in two volumes by al-Hasan al-Sayih and published in Morocco .
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