Diaries of a Hajj Journey (Book)

Daily Notes of a Hajj Journey is a compilation of personal journals documenting the 1970 overland Hajj pilgrimage undertaken by Abbas Hilmi Erhan. Two notebooks, written in the author’s own hand, have been preserved with their historical and mystical dimensions intact. Published in October 2023 as part of Dergâh Yayınları’s Anadolu Kitaplığı series, the detailed and experiential nature of these journals elevates the work to the status of a rare document within Hajj literature.

The work is organized chronologically, recounting the Hajj journey day by day between 25 January and 2 March 1970. The journals include:

• Detailed accounts of time, place, and acts of worship,
• Observations on mosques and pilgrimage sites,
• The spiritual states of pilgrims,
• Encounters with people and ethnic communities along the route,
• Observations on daily life such as trade, food, and drink.

The military discipline evident in the descriptions and the extraordinary level of detail—for instance, time-stamped entries and price notes—transform the text from a mere pilgrimage memoir into a research source of documentary value.

• Historical Testimony: Provides primary insights into the social, economic, and cultural atmosphere of the period.
• Place and Belonging: The physical and spiritual texture of Hajj sites is concretely rendered through the daily entries.
• Spiritual Condition: The shared spiritual experience between the author and other pilgrims underscores the individual’s transformation in the presence of sacred space.
• From Crowd to Individual: The realistic, non-poetic portrayal of individual experiences within the collective Hajj community stands out.

The journals, kept by Abbas Hilmi Erhan, a non-commissioned officer originally from Bitlis, are written in a simple, systematic, and observation-based manner shaped by his military training. His detailed documentation of each day transcends the nature of a personal diary, offering readers both an academic and a literary account of the Hajj experience.