Books

Dar al Saqi

Saqi was founded in 1979 in London as the first Arabic bookshop in the United Kingdom; Dar Al Saqi was established in Beirut in 1990.Dar Al Saqi is well known for the high quality of its publications, in terms of content and in terms of print quality and output. Saqi is always present in all Arab and foreign exhibitions as well as cultural events; its distribution network covers all Arab countries and the main cities of the world.Saqi’s books cover the following subjects: politics, history, biography, science, culture, literature, arts, novels, stories, poetry, reference books and children books.Dar Al Saqi has published well-known authors, as well as first books by young authors; some of these have become famous authors while continuing to publish their works with Dar Al Saqi.Dar Al Saqi respects its authors, and has never forgotten that the book belongs first to the author. Dar Al Saqi has always contributed to the renaissance Arabic cultures. It strives to build bridges between Arabic and other cultures, and to encourage dialogue and discussion between different cultures and peoples. It is worth mentioning that our authors come from many Arab countries and from many other parts of the world as well.Dar Al Saqi has, since its foundation, followed the policy of translating books from Arabic into English, and translating important works from various languages to Arabic, for the benefit of the Arab reader.Dar Al-Saqi won numerous international awards, recognizing its contribution to Arab culture and to international dialogue between cultures.
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Dar al Saqi

Dar al Saqi is an award-winning independent publishing house based in Beirut. Founded in 1990, their books cover various subjects including children's and young adults’ for ages between 3 and 18.
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Children's & YA

I Am Not Alone

by Ramy Tawil

Maher realizes one day he is an only child with no siblings. He starts to feel a bit lonely, and wishes he had siblings - like his friends and cousins. Luckily, his toys are here and now it’s time to show Maher what it means to be surrounded with brothers and sisters.It’s a heartwarming story that shows how rich and powerful the imagination of an only child can be.

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Children's & YA

I Am Special

by Nadine Kamal Karrit

You may be both different and the same as all the other children.This is what this book tackling the Down Syndrome explains, through the story of a child who just wants to be friends with everybody else.

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Children's & YA

What's On Your Face?

by Fatima Jamal Abdullah

Amin, a little boy, is the narrator of this story. Ill with the vitiligo disease, which causes his skin to have large white stains, Amin struggles in school.As Amin describes his daily challenges, young readers gain a better understanding of his behaviors and learn valuable lessons about tolerance and acceptance. As his parents say, what matters is that he has a white heart, pure and kind

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Children's & YA

A Paper Tale

by Takla Oubada

The white paper felt sad for being left blank. But its feelings changed when it saw the writer’s hand waking the sleeping pen up, and drawing letters and words on its white page.

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Devouring Himself, Starting with His Feet

by Abdallah Al-Zioud

Despite its small size, it managed to take its place among the best modern literature books in recent years. From the title and cover, going through its amazing preface and eloquent language, and to the element of surprise and unexpected ending. Abdallah Al-Zioud was able to make the reading journey of this novel a meaningful journey despite its shortness; a journey introduces readers to new terms that manipulate their imaginations and puts them in the eye of the event through a visual language that conveys the reader from paper to the visual world of the novel. It teaches them some of writing tricks and simplifies what seems complicated at the beginning so that the reader believes in its ordinary before discovering that he has fallen victim to fraud.I can say that the most beautiful thing about this novel is that it was not written in a style and did not follow a context. it rebelled against the ordinary, uniquified in style, and combined simplicity and complexity in a way predicting an amazing ability and counted in its writer favor.

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Fiction

2017

Summer Rains

Winner of the 2018 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Young Author

by Ahmad Al Qarmalawi

Using music as a thread that connects the past to the present, this novel explores what happens when traditional and cultural heritage clash with modernity. The characters face the impact of modernization on heritage and arts versus the need to protect and preserve their traditional culture and must choose between the pursuit of materialism versus spiritual balance. Al Qarmalawi writes about a wide range of music from Sufism to the present era of electronic musical arts, and Summer Rains addresses the current Arab youth crisis, in which young people find themselves torn between fundamentalism and modernity. (An extended English-language report on this book will be available soon.)

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Yalda’s Night

by Ghada Al-Absi

The life of poet Hafez Al-Shirazi forms the background from which this novel draws its great ideas about life, love and poetry. And although this book is based on the visions of this great poet, it is not a heterosexual biography of his life but rather an imagined novel inspired by his poetry. The events of the novel take place in one night when Hafez dies, only to be born again. Throughout the long night, the author reviews stories, conflicts and milestone events in history, and Hafez has the chance to meet the poles of Sufi love in multiple chronological paths within the novel. He contemplates the black death and is defeated by the Farsi language with his early failures in poetry, but he finds salvation in the Arabic language by memorising the entire Qur’an. As a result, Shams Al-Din chooses another name inspired by him: Hafez, who the world will embrace until the Shiraz baker becomes a minister, on a human journey in which the Shirazi tests and loses everything successively.

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Your Psychological Complexes Is Your Eternal prison

by Youssef Al-Hasani

If you are not ready to face your reality, if you are running away from yourself and avoid facing yourself, then this book is not for you! In this book, you will be shocked by discovering many things and facts that you thought were part of the postulates of life. Also, this book will deal with many bold and realistic matters in our Arab societies that were not discussed in detail in the past, and it will be enough to cause a bout of awareness within you.Get ready for a unique journey that will enable you to see things differently, know your true self, your psychological complexes, and how to have a decent and real life.The book addresses the following points: How are we indoctrinated intellectual legacies? And to what extent does the influence of parents in shaping our id entity and our reactions? A detailed psychological analysis of the most important psychological complexes that exist in the aspects of relationships, work, money, Authority, love, and others. A detailed explanation of the methods of deception and emotional manipulation in relationships. How do we become mature? Why are we afraid of confrontation and expressing our thoughts? How do we overcome our fears? The relationship between the psychological complexes and gender.And many other things.

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Blood and Milk

by Mohamed Al-Jezawi

The novel poses the problem of identity, as it is the essence of the psychological and intellectual conflict of the main character (Hassoun), who is disputed by two contradictory identities; He was born in the land of Yemen from a Muslim father and a Jewish mother and carried the inheritance of the two religions and their old and new conflict.Hassoun's internal journey continues with his own human crises and transformations that he witnesses along with his external journey through various societies that he went through in transitional stages of their history. Over two thousand seven hundred years, Hassoun seeks to discover himself and reach his identity by retiring at times, and by experimenting at other times, thus he goes through multiple experiences to get closer to himself.

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Children's & YA

August 2013

Ghadi & Rawan

by Fatima Sharafeddine and Samar Mahfouz Barraj

Ghadi is a young teenager of Lebanese origin, living in Brussels. Like so many Lebanese emigrants, Ghadi’s family comes to Lebanon during the summer holidays. Ghadi spends his summer with his cousin and friends in the family’s mountain house, among whom Rawan, the daughter of his grand-parent’s neighbors. Ghadi and Rawan are very close friends, and at the end of summer, when each of them goes their separate ways, they stay in touch via e-mail. The novel is built on their correspondence. From the moment the plane lands, Ghadi misses Lebanon and his friends, dreaming of the next summer. He has many friends at school, but he is also bullied by an older boy. Rawan, with her sense of humor and creativity is quite popular among her friends, and that year decides to run for the elections of the students’ representatives. Tensions at home are nevertheless more and more palpable, as Rawan’s father regularly comes home in a very bad temper. Rawan is convinced that her parents are on the verge of divorce. Having overheard a phone conversation, she also believes that her father has a lover. This situation is distressing, and Rawan has trouble concentrating at school. She feels lonely, and her anxiety pushes her away even from her closest friends. Meanwhile, in Brussels, Ghadi gets mixed up in drugs, unwillingly, and falls under the power of the boy who’s been bullying him. Each on their own, Rawan and Ghadi will find ways out of their problems, and will learn and grow from their experiences, while their friendship strengthens. With this novel for young adolescents (13 year olds), the two authors tackle issues that are central in the lives of young teens all over the world. The relationship to family members, to friends and classmates, drugs and violence, unemployment, racism, exile, identity and roots, are all issues that are touched upon in the novel.

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Children's & YA

August 2017

I Have Two Homes Instead of One

by Lorka SbeityIllustrated By: Mona Yakzan

“I am happy now, I have two homes instead of one. I visit my father in the village during the weekend. My mom reads me bedtime stories And I will not see her sad anymore.” The story targets a big part of any community nowadays; it deals with divorce from the children’s perspective. It shows the separation’s psychological damages on the child if not well approached. It facilitates the smooth and healthy acceptance of divorce for both parents and children.

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Fiction

2020

A Laughing Sun

by Bayan Al Safadi

These poetic tales for children address things around us such as the wall, the stone, the ear, the river, and others, humanize them, and present them as free verse poetry. It also includes an audio CD containing song versions of the tales, all of which are loaded with pedagogical, aesthetic, and humanitarian messages. The importance of “A Laughing Sun” stems from its adoption of the poetic tale in most poems. It carries implications for reverence of science, arts, freedom, and human diversity, and highlights the beauty of nature and the protection of the environment. The poems are replete with a sense of cheerfulness and humor, and the collection focuses on the imagination and stimulates both scientific and creative thinking.

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Fiction

2021

The Mystery of the Glass Ball

by Maria Dadouch

Ghassan Al Ghurairi had to accompany his old grandfather to the Leewy Museum in the middle of the desert. They are attending a ceremony honoring his grandfather, who spent his entire life in service of the desert. As they head to their destination onboard an ancient train, Ghassan came across a conspiracy plotted by the criminal Aqrabawi and his bald friend— disguised as two elderly women—to poison the oasis’s water supply. In place of the ecological life in the desert, they want to make way for an international resort and take over the place. Although Ghassan doesn’t mean to confront this conspiracy alone, he finds himself embroiled face-to-face with the criminals. Fortunately for him, a girl appears at his side to help. Sophia Al-Adnani from Chiparazumpia is also heading with her grandfather and his great eco-friendly invention, the glass ball, to the Leewy Museum, where her grandfather is to be honored. The two children are able to hold off the criminals initially, but not for long, as Aqrabawi and his friend soon reappear—this time deadest on revenge against the two children. Ghassan and Sophia resist in the face of intimidation and threats, and, using clever intrigue, they manage to disarm the conspirators and escape seconds before the desert guards arrive and arrest the criminals.

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Children's & YA

The Dinoraf

by Hessa Al Muhairi

An egg has hatched, and what comes out of it? A chicken? No. A turtle? No. It’s a dinosaur. But where is his family? The little dinosaur searches the animal kingdom for someone who looks like him and settles on the giraffe. In this picture book by educator and author Hessa Al Muhairi, with illustrations by Sura Ghazwan, a dinosaur sets out in search of animals like him. He finds plenty of animals, but none that look the same...until he meets the giraffe. This story explores identity and belonging and teaches children about accepting differences in carefully crafted language.

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In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat

by Iman Mersal

‘In the Footsteps of Enayat Al-Zayyat’ is a book that traces the life of an unknown Egyptian writer who died in 1963, four years before the release of her only novel. The book does not follow a traditional style to present the biography of Al-Zayyat, or to restore consideration for a writer who was denied her rights. Mersal refuses to present a single story as if it is the truth and refuses to speak on behalf of the heroine or deal with her as a victim, but rather takes us on a journey to search for the individuality that is often marginalised in Arab societies. The book searches for a young woman whose family burned all her personal documents, including the draft of her second novel, and was completely absent in the collective archives. The narration derives its uniqueness from its ability to combine different literary genres such as fictional narration, academic research, investigation, readings, interviews, fiction, and fragments of the autobiography of the author of the novel. The book deals with the differences between the individuality of Enayat, who was born into an aristocratic family, graduated from a German school and wrote her narration during the domination of the speeches of the Nasserism period, and that of Mersal, a middle-class woman who formed her consciousness in the 1990s and achieved some of what Enayat dreamed of achieving but remained haunted by her tragedy. The book deals with important political, social and cultural issues, as we read the history of psychiatry in modern Egypt through the pills that Enayat swallowed to end her life on 3 January 1963, while her divorce summarises the continuing suffering of women with the Personal Status Law. We also see how the disappearance of a small square from her neighbourhood reveals the relationship between modernity and bureaucracy, and how the geography of Cairo changes, obliterated as the result of changes in political regimes. In the library of the German Archaeological Institute, where Enayat worked, we find an unwritten history of World War II and, in her unpublished second novel, we see unknown stories of German scientists fleeing Nazism to Cairo. We also see how Enayat’s neglected tomb reveals the life story of her great-grandfather, Ahmed Rashid Pasha, and the disasters buried in the genealogy tree.

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Children's & YA

February 2014

Red Line

by Samar Mahfouz BarrajIllustrated By: Mona Yakzan and Mira El-Myr

Mazen, a young boy, is one day surprised by their neighbor Bassam shouting with anger in the street “My parking spot is a red line!” Does this mean he plans to paint the street red, asks Mazen to his mother? The mother explains to Mazen that what Bassam means is simply that no one is to park in his place. The notion is still vague to Mazen: Why red? Does it have anything to do with red traffic lights? The mother tries again “When something is a red line, it means that it is off limits to others”. In this illustrated album, Samar Barraj boldly addresses the delicate issue of child sexual abuse. Acknowledging the complexity of the boundary it tackles, the book determines it through examples the mother and child raise in their conversation. Mazen’s spontaneous remarks and comments point out the difficulty of defining this red line, and make of the book a realistic example of such a conversation. The illustrations develop the notion further, by representing situations in which the red line might be crossed – one may be on his bicycle, at his computer, or approached by a respectable-looking old man in the street. The body parts are not named, but are represented in a naïve drawing Mazen made, though the text insists on the importance of preserving the body as a whole. The colorful images and constant presence of the mother and parents make of the book a reassuring experience despite the gravity of the topic.

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Children's & YA

May 2019

Mila's Pearl

by Fatima Sharafeddine

A painful incident at school leads Mila to take a very important but secret decision, which is to lose her excess weight. She is so determined to accomplish her goal in order to prove to everyone, especially those who bully her, that she is totally capable of it. Mila gets carried away with her goal to the extent of reaching the state of Anorexia. She denies having a problem for the longest time, until she realizes that her condition has become life threatening. This YA novel deals with the issue of Anorexia, an eating disorder that is becoming more common in many modern cities of our days. The author built the character of Mila based on several testimonies of teen agers and their accounts on their sufferings with Anorexia. Is it true that once Anorexic, always Anorexic? Mila will find out the hard way.

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The Passengers’ Hall

by Ezzat El-Kamhawi

A text that transcends literary genres, this book concludes a path that runs through the author’s previous books: Al Ike fe Al Mabahej was Al Ahan (The Ike in the Joys and Sorrows) 2002, Kitab Al Ghewaya (The Book of Seduction) 2007, and Al Aar men Al Difatayn... Abeed Al Azmenah Al Hadethah fee Marakeb Al Tholomat (Shame on the Two Banks: Slaves of Modern Times in the Boats of Darkness) 2011. The theme of the book focuses on travel as a human activity and an example of human life. Hence the novel’s philosophical approach manifests itself as an examination of the different stages of travel as a metaphor for man’s journey from life to death. With this philosophical view the writer's prose fuses with cities and travel experiences, diving deep to describe the souls of the cities, going far beyond what can be captured by a camera. The book contemplates the styles of architecture and the meanings they represent, reflecting on the meaning of beauty and perfection, as well as the nature of aggression that resides in them. It reflects, too, on the meaning of living on an island and the symbolism of water, which makes travel a unique experience that increases the depth of life and compensates us for our short existence. The writer examines his visions by invoking publications that highlight travel, including The Thousand and One Nights, which he considers to be a travel book.

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Children's & YA

I Dream of Being a Concrete Mixer

by Hussain Al Mutawaa

An uplifting tale about the power of friendship, finding your place in the world, and realising your dreams while remaining true to who you are. Tumbledown is a little demolition truck growing up in a loving family. His parents go to work every day demolishing buildings with their big wrecking balls. But soft-hearted Tumbledown doesn’t like to destroy. He’d rather build things. He dreams of being a cement mixer. When Tumbledown cries, his wrecking ball swings out and destroys everything it touches. When Tumbledown laughs, his wrecking ball swings out and destroys everything it touches. His soft heart can’t skip a beat without leaving a trail of destruction. At school other students laugh at him, but still he won’t let go of his dream. When Tumbledown makes friends with a feisty troop of metal springs, they hatch a plan to save him from himself. They fan out over his wrecking ball and every time it swings they do their best to absorb the shock. The day comes when the worn-out springs turn to the Wise Old Crane for help. Tumbledown can never be a cement mixer, but maybe there are other ways, better suited to his nature. After some search, the Wise Old Crane finds a new job for Tumbledown at a construction site using his wrecking ball to smooth out the cement on the ground. It’s hard work but Tumbledown is finally happy, and he grows stronger and more skillful with every passing day.

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The Land of Zeekola

by Amr Abdelhamid

Can you imagine entering a crypt to find yourself in a strange land whose people deal with intelligence units? You work and do not take your wage in cash, but rather your intelligence units increase, and if you buy something, they decrease. It is the wondrous land of Zeekola, where there is no place for lazy ones. Whoever runs out of units will be killed. A strange adventure in which the novel takes us with its hero Khaled, who suddenly finds himself there to get to know that country. We live with its people, witness his meeting with the doctor Aseel, and go with him on a path he never choose.

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by Ramy Tawil

by Nadine Kamal Karrit

by Fatima Jamal Abdullah

by Takla Oubada

by Abdallah Al-Zioud

Winner of the 2018 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Young Author

by Ahmad Al Qarmalawi

by Ghada Al-Absi

by Youssef Al-Hasani

by Mohamed Al-Jezawi

by Fatima Sharafeddine and Samar Mahfouz Barraj

by Lorka SbeityIllustrated By: Mona Yakzan

by Bayan Al Safadi

by Maria Dadouch

by Hessa Al Muhairi

by Iman Mersal

by Samar Mahfouz BarrajIllustrated By: Mona Yakzan and Mira El-Myr

by Fatima Sharafeddine

by Ezzat El-Kamhawi

by Hussain Al Mutawaa

by Amr Abdelhamid

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