Khasi dar Miqat
Khasī dar Mīqāt is a travelogue by Jalal Al-e Ahmad in which he recounts his 1964 Hajj pilgrimage. Khasī dar Mīqāt received almost unanimously positive reviews from critics.
Title's meaning
Dehkhoda Dictionary provides various meanings for the words khas and mīqāt. Among them, the closest to the meaning of the book's title—considering its content—is as follows: khas means a base or ignoble person, and mīqāt means the place where Hajj pilgrims put on the ihram garment.Therefore, the phrase Khasī dar Mīqāt expresses the idea that Jalal, during the Hajj rituals, saw himself as a worthless being—something that in a way reflects his mystical outlook toward this religious ceremony.Publication
This travelogue was written in Persian and was initially composed under the title Gozārī be Badavīyat - Badavīyat-e Motorīzeh, but after certain omissions, it was published in 1966 or 67 under its current title by Nīl Publications.In the year 1402 SH, Mohammad-Hossein Dana'i—Jalal Al-e Ahmad's maternal nephew—published the book rāz-e hajj-e Jalāl, which was written in Persian. Centered on two print editions from 1345 and 1346 SH by Nīl Publications, it included Al-e Ahmad's deletions from Khasī dar Mīqāt, along with Jalal's related notes and letters, and sketch
Content summary
Khasī dar Mīqāt, without a preface, introduction, or epilogue, is a collection of Jalal's daily notes from his Hajj pilgrimage during the 24-day period from Friday, Farvardin 21 to Sunday, Ordibehesht 13 of the year 1343. The book has no chapters or sections; the author has written his material under the headings of various days, sometimes writing multiple times in a single day and, for example, continuing his travelogue with a heading such as "Noon of the same day".The travelogue, which begins at Mehrabad Airport, recounts the journey step by step: from the situation inside the airplane to arrival in Jeddah, and from there to the pilgrims' lodging and their various incidents, as well as Jalal's own curiosities. Al-e Ahmad, who at times speaks of the attentiveness of their group's mujtahid regarding the religious rites of Hajj, and sometimes goes to the mosques and other places in Mecca and Medina, occasionally narrates the story of a pilgrim who, in the Arabian heat, refused to take off his wool shirt—causing everyone to suspect that he had hidden money in it. At other moments he talks about Aramco and the oil contracts between Saudi Arabia and the United States, and elsewhere brings up the smallness of human beings within existence. Al-e Ahmad maintains the particular structure of his travelogue until the end, and on Sunday, Ordibehesht 13, in Tajrish, he finishes it by writing the final note.