قطز

An era after another, literature turns into a more complex machine that only the capable can use well, and only the watchful can face. This is because literary talent does not benefit its owner without artistic awareness and knowledge of the affairs of thought, philosophy, history, and culture in general. This makes the writer and critic responsible for what they present to the audience, and it also justifies the legitimacy of judging a text by its intentionality and premeditation. From this window, we can look at the novel "Qutuz" by the Saudi doctor and novelist Munther Qabbani (Dar Al-Arabiya for Science Publishers, 2014), which is the second part of the trilogy "Knights and Priests." It is a unique literary work that blends and marries history, literature, philosophy, religion, and science; crafted according to a special artistic vision, with heroes known from ancient history and others from modern history. Therefore, it is a story of the search for the lost truth since the first human on this earth and until today. In this novel, Munther Qabbani follows the life journey of his hero, Murad Qutuz, between Saudi Arabia and America, which he introduced to us in the first part of "Knights and Priests." He is a doctor seeking someone to share his madness, to answer many perplexing questions that still occupy his mind, from when he first knew himself as a child in his ancestors' town (Atrar) until his arrival in America and his work there. The reason that drives him to ask is that he still sees himself living in two worlds: one ancient, belonging to the history of ancestors in Bukhara, and another modern city, where he lives as a doctor and scientist trying to discover more about the matter of death and life, and the worlds of spirit and matter between them, as well as tangled ideas about incarnation, revelation, and other philosophical issues that seem to be a maze with no answer beyond it. Book information: Author: Munther Qabbani Publisher: Dar Al-Arabiya for Science Number of pages: 400