إِنّ الأمرَ لَغيرُ مَا نشتغلُ به: مختاراتٌ من كتاب ابن الملك والناسك

It is not what we do… Selected Readings from The Book of the Prince and the Sage is published in the Library of Arabic Literature series for Young Readers (New York University Abu Dhabi). On the basis of some of the earliest Arabic manuscripts of the Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būdāsaf, the literary work known in world literature as The Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, the editors of the volume, Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) and Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews, UK) have compiled a thrilling anthology of apologues inviting the readers to an exciting journey of a unique reading experience. Along with discovering the various aspects of the meaning of the parables, the readers are motivated to engage with their symbolic images and figurative ideas. The volume has been wonderfully illustrated by Ward al-Khalaf emphasising the aesthetic dimensions of the text.

The editorial work on the volume and its publication have been generously supported by the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) and a grant by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The Young Readers series of the Library of Arabic Literature is edited by Bilal Orfali and Enass Khansa (American University of Beirut, Lebanon), Huda Fakhreddine (University of Pennsylvania, USA), and Lucie Taylor (NYU Press). It aims at promoting works of classical Arabic literature, making them accessible to the youth and general readers. The series opens a vital channel to experience classical Arabic literary heritage and stimulates its cultural recontextualization in the contemporary world through creative reading and interpretation.