The Witch Hunter

Author: Munther Al-Qabbani

I found a new dimension in your treatment of magic that no writer before you has touched upon, and your philosophical questions about its nature were truly wonderful. Indeed, it's a puzzling question: what is magic? What makes it magic and not anything else, such as a science of unknown origin? In ancient times, chemistry, for example, was considered a form of magic. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that an old witch had the ability to become young again. Today, any plastic surgeon can do that for anyone... Is the crystal ball through which the magician sees what is happening around him not television? And what about the talismans and strange letters that form the magic spell? What is the difference between them and complex physical and chemical equations? What makes one science and the other magic? Is magic the use of a hidden power like jinn, or is magic anything that causes harm to another party, or both? Does that mean that if someone was able to separate a man and his wife through intrigue and deception, without the use of jinn, that would not be considered magic, but only magic if a jinn was present in the equation? Today, man has been able to reach horizons with his mind that only a hundred years ago were considered a form of magic, without the help of jinn and demons. Does that mean that magic has disappeared and vanished, after science replaced it? Many questions began to haunt me after reading your wonderful novel. It made me realize that I am facing a unique and masterful storyteller who will re-formulate the Arabic novel and make it soar with global literature with all merit...