His name deserves to be remembered among the great figures of Azerbaijan and the world. Haji Zeynalabdin Shirvani was a highly knowledgeable person and the founder of geography in Azerbaijan. Haji Zeynalabdin Shirvani spent about 40 years of his 58-year life traveling. He journeyed more than 60.000 kilometers, visiting many countries in Asia and Africa, and wrote about his travels in valuable books. However, the books written by Haji Zeynalabdin Shirvani are fundamentally different from the travel accounts written by other Western and Eastern travelers. His works – “Riyaz us-Siyaha”, “Hadaik us-Siyaha”, “Bustan us-Siyaha”, and “Kashf ul-Ma’arif” – each have a universal character, reflecting the author’s wide-ranging knowledge. It is no coincidence that Mahammadali Tarbiyat, the author of an encyclopedic study on famous figures of Azerbaijan throughout history, described these works as a “treasure of rich benefits”. Zeynalabdin Shirvani’s works combine different fields such as geography, history, ethnography, sociology, and cultural studies. Because of this, his writings are valuable and reliable sources for each of these areas. Zeynalabdin Shirvani’s notes about different countries and peoples are not just simple descriptions. They are serious scientific studies based on deep and detailed observations. For this reason, the works of Zeynalabdin Shirvani became trusted sources that scholars from India, Russia, Poland, England, France, Afghanistan, Türkiye, China and Iran regularly referred to from the late 18th century and early 19th century onwards. Writing under the pen name “Temkin”, Zeynalabdin Shirvani also holds a special place in history of classical Persian literature. His poetry is as diverse as his scientific works. In his poems, traditional lyrical themes are combined with clear scientific and philosophical ideas. Although various studies have been conducted on Zeynalabdin Shirvani, and some of his works have been critically published and translated, these efforts are still not sufficient or satisfactory. Because of this, his rich heritage has still not been fully published or properly studied. These unresolved issues are important not only for understanding the life and works of the great geographer, historian, ethnographer, and poet Zeynalabdin Shirvani more deeply and widely, but also for bringing into scientific circulation many valuable pieces of knowledge about the countries and peoples he encountered during his extensive travels across a vast region. Restlessness is part of human nature, and people have always felt that he places they live in is too small for them. Humans have always wanted to reach wider horizons. Someone living by a mountain has always tried to find out what is on the other side of it, in the nearby villages.