The book smuggler /
"I am Majid al-Hanafi of Najd, I was not an honorable man." So goes this epic tale, written in the vein of the great Arab explorers and travel writers. Scribe and bookseller Mazid al-Hanafi journeys from his remote village in the Arabian Desert dreaming of grand libraries. His passion for...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Language Notes: | Translated from the Arabic. |
| Published: |
Cairo ; New York :
Hoopoe, an imprint of AUC Presss,
[2021].
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| Summary: | "I am Majid al-Hanafi of Najd, I was not an honorable man." So goes this epic tale, written in the vein of the great Arab explorers and travel writers. Scribe and bookseller Mazid al-Hanafi journeys from his remote village in the Arabian Desert dreaming of grand libraries. His passion for books draws him into a secret society of book smugglers and to the great cultural capitals of the period-Baghdad, Jerusalem, Cairo, Kairouan, Granada and Cordoba. He enters a dangerous new world of ideas and experiences the cultural diversity of the Islamic Golden Age, its various sects, philosophical schools, wars and ways of life. Omaima Al-Khamis's vivid descriptions of time and place trace a route through ancient cities and cultures and immerse us in a distant era, one brought to life by her magical storytelling and one in which the intellectual debates and struggles that characterized the time continue to rage today. |
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| Physical Description: | xii, 505 pages ; 21 cm. |
| ISBN: | 9781617979989 1617979988 |