Product Description
In Arabian Nights
Author(s): Tahir Shah
Format: Paperback
Shortly after the 2005 London bombings, Tahir Shah was thrown into a Pakistani prison on suspicion of spying for Al-Qaeda. What sustained him during his terrifying, weeks-long ordeal were the stories his father told him as a child in Morocco.
Inspired by this, on his return to his adopted homeland he embarked on an adventure worthy of the mythical Arabian Nights, going in search of the stories and storytellers that have nourished this most alluring of countries for centuries. Wandering through the medinas of Fez and Marrakech, criss-crossing the Saharan sands and tasting the hospitality of ordinary Moroccans, he collected a treasury of traditional stories recounted by a vivid and eccentric cast of characters: from master masons who work only at night to Sufi wise men who write for soap operas and Tuareg guides addicted to reality TV. Himself a link in the chain of scholars and teachers who have passed such tales down from father to son, mother to daughter, Shah reveals a world and a way of thinking that most visitors to Morocco barely know exist.
About the Author
Tahir Shah was born into a prominent Anglo-Afghan family in 1966. He has devoted his life to searching for the hidden underbelly of lands through which he travels, and the realms on which he writes. He has published more than 60 books, with editions in thirty languages. In 2004, he moved with his young family to a ramshackle mansion in the middle of a sprawling Moroccan shantytown, and set about renovating the property, and exorcising the legions of wayward Jinns. Shah, who is regarded as a preeminent expert on folklore, established The Scheherazade Foundation, which strives to bridge cultures and to harness the knowledge locked in traditional tales the world over. He lives at his home, Dar Khalifa, in Casablanca. To find out more, visit: tahirshah.com
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