al-Ghaḍbān, Ilyās

This article examines the riḥla (Arabic travelogue) as a literary genre from the early modern Mashreq through the Nahḍa period, proposing a formal definition that accounts for the genre’s diversity across several centuries. While riḥla literature emerged in the west of the Arab World in the twelfth century, comparable narratives did not appear in the Mashreq until the fifteenth century, resulting in a remarkably varied corpus. The study draws on a selection of largely unedited texts spanning from 1481 to the early twentieth century, including works by Muslim and Christian authors whose travel writing developed along distinct confessional lines. The article proposes distinguishing between travel writing broadly conceived and travelogues specifically—texts centered around particular journeys with a narrative framework bounded by departure and return. This formal approach accommodates the genre’s topical and formal variegation, from terse pilgrimage itineraries to exuberant Sufi imagery, from career-motivated Istanbul journeys to encyclopedic displays of erudition. The analysis demonstrates how the riḥla evolved from early modern compilations emphasizing patronage, pilgrimage, and confessional identity to Nahḍa-era texts focusing on comparative observation and social reform. This morphological approach invites further exploration of the genre’s stylistic diversity and its social underpinnings.