ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people and several institutions have helped me in the seven years that led up to this book. For financial support at two critical junctures I want to thank the Marin County Arts Council (Scott Brynd, r.i.p., and Yankee Johnson) and the California State Arts Council. For a different form of generosity I owe real gratitude to Prince Muhammad bin Faisal and to Sheikh Khalil Al-Khalil of the Department of Islamic Affairs at the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. My experience of the pilgrimage would have been less complete without them.

In California, the congregation of the Islamic Center of San Jose, its imam, Dr. Khalid Saddiqi; Abed Imam, who showed me in; Imam Bilal ibn Muhammad; Yusef Salem; Munir and Karima Sperling; Javed Mohammed; and Hesham Zeitoun all welcomed me warmly and showed understanding. The American poet Abd al-Hayye Daniel Moore deserves special thanks for his early and energetic encouragement. Alan Ritch of the library at the University of California at Santa Cruz provided invaluable help in tracking down rare texts that informed my writing; Professor Edmund Burke lent some much-needed direction to my reading; Gwen Marcum encouraged and supported; Professor Linda Lomperis shared her interest in Ibn Battuta and the early travelers of Islam; Professor Abd al-Haqq Alan Godlas supplied humor and insight throughout; Driss Britel of the Moroccan Tourist Bureau in Los Angeles wrote me useful letters of introduction.

Tekla and Harry Grace, Daniel and Jennifer Wolfe, Peter and Hazel Weiser, Vicki Hiatt Khan, Joseph Koppal, Dr. Ronald Garren, and Professors Murray Baumgarten and Eugenia Matute-Bianchi gave crucial support and encouragement along the way. I owe thanks to the Men's Group of Carmel. Thanks also to Richard Wilbur for his loyalty and postcards over these years. And to Brian McGarry for his reading suggestions. I am grateful to Barry Gifford for sage advice and for the epigraph that opens chapter 1, from his Museum of Opinions.

In the manuscript stages Abd al-Haqq Alan and Silvie Godlas; Ed, Camille, and Matthew Helminski; Ken and Melissa Florance; Tekla Grace; and Sheikh Majid al-Gheshyan all helped focus my words and correct my views with their candid comments and marginal notes. For help with the book's publication, I want to thank Tom Dyja, who kept a clear head in the early stages; Ned Leavitt, who knew what to do; and Michael Carlisle, Michelle Tessler, and Matthew Bialeri, who saw things through. Finally, thanks to Anton Mueller and to my publisher, Morgan Entrekin, who took a chance and showed both style and patience.

In Morocco, Rene Doe, Paul Bowles, Mohammed Mrabet, Abd al-Wahed, Yusef Menari, Claude Thomas, Ira and Raphael Cohen, Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Buffie Johnson, Hamza and Sa'ida Kropf each made my stay more pleasant and meaningful. In Marrakesh, I owe everything to Abou el-Mahassine Mostopha, his family and friends.

In Mecca, in addition to those mentioned in the text, I want to thank the following men at the offices of the World Muslim League for their generous assistance, time, and books: Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasseef, Sayyid Ameen Attas, Adil Jamadar, Mohamad Abedan, and Mohammed Sindi. My gratitude goes to Ziad and his family, for their friendship. Thanks also for guidance through the city and the rites of hadj to Sheikhs Nasser al Sayeed, Abd ar-Rahman, and Ibrahim Qulaibi. Thanks to David Paulson, for car information, and to Faraj Mansour al-Asmara, for the sandals. Finally, to my great, good friend Jo Menell, this work owes more than I can tell.