Articles (3 parts)

This is the first Arabic translation of the book "Essays" by the great French philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592 AD), from the European Renaissance. It features the first appearance of the art of the essay in the history of literature. This book remained on the Vatican's list of banned books for about three centuries, but its ban did not prevent its widespread popularity in Europe, nor its influence on its great thinkers, from the Age of Enlightenment to the modern era, foremost among them: Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, John Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Diderot, Kant, Goethe, Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche. These great figures and many others in their class all credited this book with the merit in their literature and philosophy; some - like Montesquieu - kept a precious copy of it in their library until their death, and others - like Nietzsche - diligently read it throughout their lives.