Through –mainly—close readings and analytical discussions  of the largely neglected corpus of  Middle Eastern riḥla, diplomatic memoirs, exploration reports, captivity narratives, ʿajāʾib/gharāʾib (marvels), folktales, literary debates/boasting, and poetry , we will explore the conceptions of the Occident in Middle Eastern and North African (including Andalusian) writings. Adopting a comparative theoretical framework by mainly drawing on and departing from Edward Said’s influential definition of Orientalism and his critique of western representation of the Orient, we will demonstrate through a myriad of fascinating texts that  ‘Orientals’ turned their own gaze toward the ‘Occidentals’ in a way that mirrored in reverse the subject/object relationship described as Orientalism.