The shadow and the heat - horizons of knowledge

I loved autobiographies, and nothing from them was a source of sorrow for me; like memoirs, memories, confessions, and diaries. My reasons for them started about ten years ago; during which I collected over a thousand titles or more. I lived with some of them through sweet and bitter days: laughter like crying, sadness mixed with joy, and pleasure darkened by something the eye falls upon; from blatant sin, and spreading falsehood, and corruption in morals. Despite all this, in their entirety, they contain lessons that lead to reflection. Therefore, I wanted to select for the reader summaries of the most famous autobiographies, Arabic and Western, and to present the most beautiful and most exciting, beneficial, and enjoyable parts of them, from anecdotes that delight and please. I have purified them from what generally tarnishes them, and I hope they will be a close harvest, fresh and vibrant. This collection in your hands represents "the first group" of those selected works, which included thematic chapters organized from the lives of one hundred and fifty autobiographies. I place it in your hands, and I hope you will find in it a light, gentle pleasure, a reminder that admonishes, and a conversation that entertains.