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Published by Interlink Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
A historical novel that shifts between contemporary Cairo and Ancient Iraq.
Hisham Al Khattab is Yazid ibn Abih. At least he thinks he is. Some 13 centuries separate the two, but in the despaired mind of Hisham Al Khattab, and through the magical power of dreams, Hisham is Yazid.
Hisham, who is passionate about ancient manuscripts and lives off the antique book trade, is haunted by a dream in which he sees angels picking all the jasmine flowers in Basra. However, this dream is listed and interpreted in a very old book that he loves: it would be the premonitory sign of the disappearance of all the thinkers of the city. Prey to fantasies, he constantly navigates between two worlds: contemporary Cairo where he lives and Basra at the end of the 8th century, a fascinating city and a major intellectual and religious center of the nascent Islamic empire.
In this parallel world, Hisham meets a character in whom he recognizes his double, a man named Yazid Ibn Abihi, who frequents the circle of rationalist theologians and adopts their doctrines, later harshly opposed by orthodoxy. A strong friendship immediately links him with one of their disciples, and their story—made of terrible betrayals—then becomes the pivot of the novel.
The author alternates scenes, periods, and interior monologues, and masterfully handles levels of language, giving her story a polyphonic dimension. In passing, she manages to finely address certain theological questions debated at the time, notably the creation by God of human acts. A message, perhaps, emerges here, in resonance with Hisham’s dream: if there is no longer jasmine in the orchards of Basra, it is because with the closure of the sacred texts on themselves, Muslim religious thought has gradually become ossified.
In this almost historical fiction, dream and reality are one and the same, and the boundaries between reason and madness are dangerously shifting. Similarly to the life of Yazid bin Abih, the life of Hisham is tainted with violence—a violence so crude, it strangely gives reality to the tales of the 8th century.
With her fluid writing, Mansoura Ez-Eldin beautifully shifts from contemporary Egypt to ancient Iraq, fleshing them both out with few but so specific details, that the scenes come alive in the reader’s mind. Like the jasmine that repeatedly falls to the ground, there seems to be no end to the downfall of the likes of Hisham and Yazid, or to the fall of Ulamas, the men of knowledge.
Hisham Al Khattab is Yazid ibn Abih. At least he thinks he is. Some 13 centuries separate the two, but in the despaired mind of Hisham Al Khattab, and through the magical power of dreams, Hisham is Yazid.
Hisham, who is passionate about ancient manuscripts and lives off the antique book trade, is haunted by a dream in which he sees angels picking all the jasmine flowers in Basra. However, this dream is listed and interpreted in a very old book that he loves: it would be the premonitory sign of the disappearance of all the thinkers of the city. Prey to fantasies, he constantly navigates between two worlds: contemporary Cairo where he lives and Basra at the end of the 8th century, a fascinating city and a major intellectual and religious center of the nascent Islamic empire.
In this parallel world, Hisham meets a character in whom he recognizes his double, a man named Yazid Ibn Abihi, who frequents the circle of rationalist theologians and adopts their doctrines, later harshly opposed by orthodoxy. A strong friendship immediately links him with one of their disciples, and their story—made of terrible betrayals—then becomes the pivot of the novel.
The author alternates scenes, periods, and interior monologues, and masterfully handles levels of language, giving her story a polyphonic dimension. In passing, she manages to finely address certain theological questions debated at the time, notably the creation by God of human acts. A message, perhaps, emerges here, in resonance with Hisham’s dream: if there is no longer jasmine in the orchards of Basra, it is because with the closure of the sacred texts on themselves, Muslim religious thought has gradually become ossified.
In this almost historical fiction, dream and reality are one and the same, and the boundaries between reason and madness are dangerously shifting. Similarly to the life of Yazid bin Abih, the life of Hisham is tainted with violence—a violence so crude, it strangely gives reality to the tales of the 8th century.
With her fluid writing, Mansoura Ez-Eldin beautifully shifts from contemporary Egypt to ancient Iraq, fleshing them both out with few but so specific details, that the scenes come alive in the reader’s mind. Like the jasmine that repeatedly falls to the ground, there seems to be no end to the downfall of the likes of Hisham and Yazid, or to the fall of Ulamas, the men of knowledge.
Product Details
- Publisher: Interlink Books (June 18, 2025)
- Length: 256 pages
- ISBN13: 9781623716219
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Raves and Reviews
“A subtly musical voice, untrammeled storytelling, beyond the beaten paths of folklore and picturesque charm that we associate with Arab literature or, to be more exact, what we imagine to be Arab literature, and at the same time, with a stroke of genius – and this is the most delightful and important thing – that knows how to pay tribute to those same beaten paths by following them all the way to their source, deepening and adding perspective to a millennial Arab culture.”
– — Ersi Sotiropoulos
“Mansoura Ez-Eldin's novel has the brilliance and mystery of a marvelous gem.”
– — Damien Aubel, Transfuge
“In 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 story which subtly mixes fiction and historical reality.”
– — Nadia Leila Aissaoui, L’Orient le Jour
“A polyphonic story where she brilliantly combines the codes of ancient Arabic writing and those of the contemporary novel … [A] labyrinthine narration where we get lost, like in the alleys of an Arab medina, with delight.”
– — Richard Jacquemond, Le Monde des Livres
“An exalted novel that sublimates the powers of dreams and fiction.”
– — Marjorie Bertin, Le Courrier de L'Atlas
“To be discovered without delay.”
– — Via Books
“Her superbly mastered novel is a confirmation of her talent as a storyteller.”
– — Mare Nostrum
"The Orchards of Basra is a poignant novel, written with poetic elegance. It is a thought-provoking tale that brings the reader intimately close to not just one, but all of the key characters. The novel succeeds in challenging the depths of the reader's mind and faith, while transcending time and space."
– — The New Arab
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- Book Cover Image (jpg): The Orchards of Basra Trade Paperback 9781623716219
