Azazeel

Author: Youssef Ziedan

"I don't think I've ever enjoyed a work like this... How wonderful this work is!!!" -- Yahya El-Gamal "This novel is a creative and dangerous work; creative because of the human conversational areas it contains, written with a delicate sensitivity where emotion intertwines with pleasure, and dangerous because it includes a study on the emergence and development of the sectarian conflict between Christian denominations in the Levant... Youssef Ziedan possesses both talents, the talent of the creator and the talent of the researcher, and these two talents often intertwine in this work." -- Sami Khashaba "If we read the novel with true understanding, we would realize the sublimity of its objectives and the nobility of its moral and spiritual goals, which affirm the values of tolerance, acceptance of others, respect for the right to differ, and rejection of the principle of violence... The language of the novel is poetic, echoing mystical prayers, especially when we read Hiba's supplications to her Lord." -- Dr. Gaber Asfour "Youssef Ziedan is the first Muslim novelist to write about Christian theology in a deeply narrative way. He is also the first Muslim to attempt to provide solutions to major ecclesiastical problems... Youssef Ziedan penetrated the life of monasteries and depicted, with a monk's brush, church events that actually occurred and had a great impact on the history of the Coptic Church." -- Bishop Yohanna Gregoryus