Encounter - New Edition

Hachette Antoine, under the Noufal imprint, exclusively publishes the works of Mikhail Naimy, one of the most prominent contemporary Arab writers and Lebanese diaspora writers. His writings are characterized by their attempts to purify Arabic literature of embellishments and superfluous language, and to draw closer to depicting the reality of things and events. His style is characterized by simplicity, clarity, and frankness, and by its avoidance of exaggeration, especially in description, narration, and imagery. His vocabulary sometimes seems closer to the colloquial dialect, which increases the desire of readers of all ages to read his books. The story of two beautiful souls, one searching for the other since time immemorial and then meeting, is crafted by a pen of refined sense, taste, and thought. Its atmosphere connects earth to heaven, and it is brimming with secrets and enlightenment. It grips the reader from the beginning, preventing him from escaping even after he reaches its end.
Love is something that doesn't come from outside; it lies dormant within the soul and needs to be awakened. And Leonardo, the magical violinist, tries to pick up on his violin the note with which to awaken Baha, the Baha he loved in an era of their previous lives.
The entire novel, and indeed the entire life, according to Mikhail Naimah, is, in its essence, a search for that tone. It's a tale of two beautiful souls who have been searching for each other ever since and then met. Embroidered with a keenness of sensitivity, taste and acuity, with an ambience that connects the earth to the sky, and is full of secrets and enlightening facts, the novel holds the reader's attention from its very beginning and doesn't let go until he's reached the end of it. It is the story of Leonardo, the enchanting violin player, and Bahaa, the owner of the café's daughter where Leonardo plays. Bahaa whom Leonardo loved in an eternity of their previous lives, after he snatched her breath with his melodies until she burned with him in love.
“Encounter” is the only strayed melody that remained from their story, a reminiscence of the love that transcends time and age, strays towards eternity and repels its flame as much as it can.
The novel was translated into English in 1957 by Naimy himself.