Recommended Reading On the History of Morocco

The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajān and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century by Dr. Yousef Casewit:
The twelfth century CE marked a turning point for mysticism in the Muslim West. In al-Andalus, a group known as the Mu'tabirun, the Contemplators, forged a synthesis between Islamic scripture and Neoplatonic cosmology. At the center of this movement was Ibn Barrajān of Seville, whose commentaries on the divine names and the Qur'an emphasized God's signs in nature and the mystical passage from the visible to the unseen. Yousef Casewit's book examines Ibn Barrajān alongside his contemporaries Ibn al-'Arif and Ibn Qasi within the broader scholarly and political landscape of al-Andalus.

Realm of the Saint Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism by Vincent Cornell
a landmark study of Moroccan Sufism from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, tracing how saints acquired and exercised spiritual and political authority in the Muslim West. Cornell argues that sainthood in Morocco was not simply a devotional phenomenon but a deeply social and political one — saints functioned as mediators, power brokers, and sources of legitimacy in a world where the boundaries between the sacred and the political were fluid. The book gives sustained attention to al-Jazuli and the Jazuliyya order, situating the Dala'il al-Khayrat within a broader movement of prophetic devotion that reshaped Moroccan religious life in the fifteenth century. Cornell draws on an impressive range of Arabic primary sources — biographical dictionaries, hagiographies, and legal texts — making the book as valuable as a work of historical methodology as it is for its specific findings. It remains the most comprehensive English language scholarly treatment of Moroccan Sufism and an essential reference for anyone working in this field.

A Spiritual Guide to Fes‍ ‍by Peter Dziedzic and Sam Jaffe
Drawing on the classical Moroccan biographical dictionary Salwat al-Anfas by Imam Muhammad b. Ja'far al-Kattani (1858–1927), it offers comprehensive biographies of the saints of Fes alongside historical insights, practical visitor tips, and four specially commissioned detailed maps of the medina.