<p>A leather-bound manuscript is found hidden in a wall of a house in the rubble of Beirut in the late 1970s. It is the diary of a Muslim judge in Ottoman Beirut during 1843--a critical time for the Ottoman Empire and the European powers. The judge is Sheikh 'Abdallah bin Ahmad bin Abu Bakar al-Jabburi to the world, but simply Abu Khalid--father of Khalid--to his family and friends. In a sequence of stories and vignettes the diary tells of his work as a judge, the cases he has to deal with amid the political conspiracies and diplomatic intrigues of the times, and the impact they have on his relations with others. Merchants, officials, family, friends, and enemies are threaded in and out of a rich tapestry of events and reflections. A dragoman of the British Consulate seeks his help; Abu Kasim, his lifelong friend, asks for the hand of his unwilling daughter 'Aisha; and a young gypsy girl reads his palm. Subsequent family and political misfortunes change the judge's quiet life and shatter his dream of a pair of red slippers, in a dramatic crescendo with consequences he is unable to control.</p>

The Qadi and the Fortune Teller: Diary of a Judge in Ottoman Beirut (1843)

Saleh, Nabil A.

Literature & Fiction

Interlink Pub Group Inc

Beirut in 1940 -- a carefree social whirl under the shadow of war, a city of torn allegiances, treason and love. After France's crushing defeat by the German army, the pro-German Vichy French control Lebanon and Syria, while Britain tightens her grip over Palestine and Iraq. Diplomats and politicians maneuver as spies and agents intrigue in the narrow and deadly streets.

Open House

Genre Fiction

Quartet Books Ltd.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Saleh, Nabil A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Saleh, Nabil A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Saleh, Nabil A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Qadi and the Fortune Teller: Diary of a Judge in Ottoman Beirut (1843)

Open House