{"product_id":"the-orchards-of-basra-mansoura-ez-eldin-paperback","title":"The Orchards of Basra: Mansoura Ez-Eldin - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMansoura Ez-Eldin\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003ePaul Starkey\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA historical novel that shifts between contemporary Cairo and Ancient Iraq.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this captivating and remarkably translated novel, Mansoura Ez-Eldin invites us to a round trip in time and space, between Cairo and Basra in Iraq, to meet timeless characters in a masterfully-told story which subtly mixes fiction and historical reality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHisham lives at home with his impoverished mother in Minya, on the western bank of the Nile. Like so many other young people in Egypt, who have managed to attend college, he lacks the connections to find well-paying work. So he makes ends meet finding and reselling old and rare books, driven by a selfless passion for the history of Islam, its great thinkers and currents of ideas. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHis interests lead him to a mentor, for whom he finds books and manuscripts. Although an apprentice, Hisham shares with his teacher valuable insights into the old texts. While he is given no credit and his work is taken for granted, he is led to discover his own double. Hisham dreams a recurring dream of falling jasmine flowers. Then one night, a man appears in his dream. He knows this man's name, he knows who he is. More than that, Hisham knows that he himself is in fact this very man. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSome thirteen centuries ago, in the eighth century in Basra (Iraq), Yazid ibn Abih, a poor basket maker with an appetite for knowledge, attends the gatherings of the most luminous and respected learned ones of the times. But he belongs to a completely different world, with no hope of riches or power. Yazid dreams a dream of falling jasmine flowers. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnd it is written that when the jasmine fall, and minds become closed to science and knowledge, the freedom to dream ends.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMansoura Ez-Eldin is an award-winning Egyptian novelist and short story writer, born in 1976. She is the author of six novels and three short story collections and her works have been translated into more than ten languages. In 2010, she was the youngest writer to be shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for her novel \u003ci\u003eBeyond Paradise\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eThe Orchards of Basra\u003c\/i\u003e was longlisted for IPAF in 2022. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePaul Starkey has translated works by Adania Shibli, Mansoura Ez Eldin, Edwar al-Kharrat, and others. He won the 2015 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for his translation of Youssef Rakha's novel \u003ci\u003eThe Book of the Sultan's Seal\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 183\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 7.8 x 5.2 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 08, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44428445057126,"sku":"9781623716219","price":25.67,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/D-YBgvmE0n9781623716219.webp?v=1770216651","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/the-orchards-of-basra-mansoura-ez-eldin-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}