A Western Islamic scholar noted for his English translation of the Qur'an (1930). A convert from Christianity, Pickthall was a novelist, esteemed by D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, and E. M. Forster, as well as a journalist, headmaster, and political and religious leader.
Contents
Veiled Women (1913)
The Valley of the Kings (1914)
Oriental Encounters (1918)
The Valley of the Kings (1914)
A gentle, easy going tale of a young Christian Arab in Turkish Palestine and his loves and losses.
Oriental Encounters (1918)
This is a beautiful collection of highly exotic stories that reflect the brilliance of the writer, not only a convert to Islam and fluent in Arabic but one of the first to render a translation of the Qur'an in elegant and refined English. Oriental Encounters is exactly that, tales of encounters with various characters and personalities in the Levant in the 19th century. What strikes the reader who knows (and perhaps has embraced) the Middle East is Marmaduke Pickthall's remarkable ability to juxtapose cultures through an engaging and usually humorous storyline for the purpose of highlighting how human understanding is formed and fashioned by its own society.
Here was a brilliant man who clearly loved and understood the Arab culture and personality. He was a gifted writer, able to tell stories and anecdotes by showing, not telling, and paint the high-spirited shenanigans of the characters he encountered during his travels through Arabia in such a way that we are both amused and enlightened. Likewise he understood the culture from whence he came. This is a brilliant book, meant for brilliant readers. Only open-minded lovers of history well versed in critical analysis need apply.
