We are pleased to announce the publication of Lima ishtadda ʿishq al-insān li-hadhā al-ʿālam? (Why Did Humanity So Love This World?), which is the second book in the LAL Young Readers series. The book features excerpts from The Philosopher Responds by Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī and Abū ʿAlī Miskawayh, specially selected with a secondary-school audience in mind. The book is available for download as a free PDF worldwide, and copies will also be printed for distribution in the UAE.

Series editors Bilal Orfali and Enass Khansa write, “Our own desire to present selections from classical texts flows from two sources: first, from a desire to share the worlds that we passionately love in our work as academics, and second, from a deep respect for the Arabic literary heritage, a heritage we would like to remain within the purview of contemporary cultural consciousness and a part of our intellectual identity.”

The Young Readers series launched in November 2019 with the publication of Ḥiyākat al-kalām, featuring selections from Deliverance Follows Adversity by al-Tanūkhī. Copies of the book were distributed to students and faculty at several universities in the Middle East and the US, as well as to a Moroccan NGO, and copies will also be distributed to forty schools in the UAE at no cost. For an audio version of some of the stories in Ḥiyākat al-kalām, told by a professional storyteller, please visit LAL’s SoundCloud channel.