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Primary sourceBook14th century

Manuscript of the Rihla by Ibn Juzayy

Ibn Juzayy · 14th century

A 14th-century manuscript copy of the Rihla associated with its compiler Ibn Juzayy, the closest surviving physical link to Ibn Battuta's dictated text.

A manuscript copy close to the original dictation that preserves Ibn Battuta's words through his editor Ibn Juzayy.

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Two facing pages of a handwritten Arabic manuscript on aged paper. The right page is written in dark ink in neat, flowing script; the left page is faded and more worn, with lines of script partly obscured. The pages show the text of the travel account.
Manuscript of the Rihla, compiled by Ibn Juzayy, 14th century. Bibliotheque nationale de France.

About this source

What it is

This is a 14th-century manuscript of the Rihla, the travel account of Ibn Battuta, associated with Ibn Juzayy, the scholar who wrote down and edited Ibn Battuta's dictated memories. Part of the manuscript is held at the Bibliotheque nationale de France.

Why it matters

Because Ibn Battuta did not write his own account, the manuscripts made by and after Ibn Juzayy are the closest physical connection we have to the words Ibn Battuta spoke in Fez. Studying such a manuscript shows students how medieval texts survived and were copied by hand, and how much we depend on scribes and editors like Ibn Juzayy to preserve a traveller's story.

Look closer

  • What differences do you notice between the two visible pages, and what might explain them?
  • Why does the condition of a manuscript matter to historians trying to trust its text?
  • What role did Ibn Juzayy play in shaping the story we read today?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ibn Battuta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scanned manuscript page in Arabic calligraphy on aged cream paper. The top has a line of black script with a decorative heading, and a red-ink title block in larger calligraphy reading the opening of the work. Below are about two dozen lines of brown-ink handwritten text in dense Arabic script, with a marginal note at the bottom left.Book

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Photograph of an open handwritten Arabic manuscript with dense black ink script on cream pages, with some red-ink headings visible. The left page is in focus and the right page is angled and partly blurred.Book

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