Heaven of thorns

In this book, Taha Hussein seeks to revive one of the ancient literary arts called "Epigramma" (meaning inscription in Greek), as he believes that this literary form suits our modern fast-paced life, with its many responsibilities that make humans prefer brevity over verbosity and lengthy elaboration that are steeped in craftsmanship or emotion. Thus, the texts of "Epigramma" return once again after they resided on the shelves of old libraries and were inscribed by ancient Greeks on the walls of temples and graves. We read them in prose or poetry, provided that they adhere to the form recognized by the masters of this art from the Greeks and Romans; which is that the text fulfills the conditions of concise expression of the idea in elegant, non-trite words, creating a complete literary entity dominated by a clear paradoxical spirit, thus stimulating both the reader's mind and emotion.