This presentation examines the travel writings of Jalal Al-e-Ahmad (1923-1969), one of the most prominent Iranian writers, thinkers, and social and political critics in the twentieth century. It focuses on the influence his travel writings, especially Khasi dar Miqat [Lost in the Crowd], had on several generations of his readers. Although he was born into a sternly religious family, later in his life, Al-e Ahmad renounced his religious background and beliefs and became heavily involved in politics and political activities, becoming an active member of the communist Tudeh Party. In 1963, he went on a "secular" pilgrimage to Mecca, and Lost in the Crowd is the report of that journey. In this book, Al-e Ahmad records his observations of the Arabs and other Muslims gathered from all over the world, the political ramifications of such a gathering, and his own religious and political views. Among his numerous travel memoirs, Lost in the Crowd should be considered the most significant, especially in terms of Al-e Ahmad's political views, since it is at this point that he comes to the conclusion that religion can be a mobilizing force to put an end to the injustice and oppression that abound, especially in most of the disintegrating Muslim societies, such as Iran. In this paper, I focus my discussion on the extent of influence of Al-e Ahmad’s travelogues, especially Lost in the Crowd, in registering a moment in the Iranian and modern Islamic society when Al-e Ahmad began to return to Islam as a political impulse. The paper also sheds light on the importance of this book in understanding the dilemmas that faced one of the major Iranian writers—as well as many Iranian intellectuals—between World War II and the Islamic Revolution, the reasons underlying making such a pilgrimage, the importance of the act of writing, the sense of Iranian superiority and Al-e Ahmad’s view of the Arabs, and the existential anxiety of the Iranian intellectuals when they are on the verge of becoming an anonymous member of the crowd.