Man is a traveler in this world.

Every journey is a discovery.

The eye is finally freed from images it has memorized. It enters into appearances that are constantly reshaped at every moment, perpetually surprising the human being, and bringing about refreshments and expansions in their inner world.

Now we have the word “virtual” in our language; we travel in an imaginary realm, having almost settled there. This did not exist in the past; imaginary journeys were mostly taken in the world of books. People would embark on long voyages of discovery while sitting in their own homes. They would meet characters from novels and short stories. Within those pages, they would find friends to whom they became attached with warmer emotions than those in the real world.

The pieces in this book contain some of the journeys I have made through writing.

For instance, I have traveled quite a bit in Russia: mostly thanks to the works of classic Russian literature! Through Goethe, I opened up to German literature. The interest that Pushkin and Goethe held for the Islamic faith and civilization became issues I tried to deepen my understanding of, subjects I persisted on as if digging a well with a needle.

Then my path led to Algeria; I learned that Ahmed Ben Bella had to learn his mother tongue only after the age of thirty. I went as far as Malaysia, where I was with those working in the rice fields, standing in the water. During the harvest, I chased away the birds so those people would not lose their livelihood.

Not long ago, I set out on a journey to Jerusalem with poets and travelers. I arrived in the Jerusalem of the beginning of the century via a narrow-gauge old railway. I lived there for a while. I witnessed the experiences of the Ottoman administrators who had been in this city in the past. I climbed the Mount of Olives and watched the Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Haram al-Sharif, all standing before my eyes as a whole.

This book brings together these pieces, each of which is a separate “journey.” It invites you, even if only in your imagination, to those journeys that transcend borders. To walk toward the horizons...