As-Saq ‘Ala As-Saq fi ma Huwa Al-Fariaq

DESCRIPTION

[5], + vii + 712 pp. + 26 pp. + [8], Arabic text, index, introduced by Professor Yusuf Quzma Khouri. A facsimile edition of 1855 Paris first edition. Copy in mint condition. New. Published in Paris in 1855, al-Saq 'ala al-saq fi ma huwa al-Faryaq (One Leg Crossed Over The Other) is a literary masterpiece that transcends and surpasses the purely "documentary". It is a work in four parts, nearly 700 pages long, and the fourth section deals mainly with the periods spent in Europe by the author. It also cuts across all genres: not a classical traveler’s tale, not really an autobiography and not a pure lexicographical study, Shidyaq's book yet manages to be all these things at once. Shidyaq was undoubtedly a combative intellectual, and he was never deterred by taboos. His work includes criticisms of the Bible, erotic descriptions, defenses of the rights of woman, arguments favoring a separation of Church and State, caustic critiques of the Christian clergy in the Lebanon, and condemnations of large landowners and religious sectarianism._x000d_ For the period in which he was writing, this was extremely provocative - and it still is, in part. This is surely why Shidyaq has never been granted proper recognition in the Arab world. A full appreciation of his substantial work is long overdue._x000d_ We would like to point that, this is the first time, after about 153 years, that the Arab reader is able to read the complete version of this book uncensored. # 21069