The House of the Mosque

Acknowledgements

A few chapters in The House of the Mosque begin, just as some of the surahs in the Koran do, with the names of letters from the Arabic alphabet, such as alef, lam and mim. At first glance, they seem to be meaningless, but Islamic scholars have written countless volumes about them. They are thought to be secret numbers, a kind of code to the universe that will unlock the secret of creation.

The story quoted at the end of the Mahiha chapter is based on a paragraph in a short story by the Iranian writer Jalal Al-e Ahmad.

The poems in the Family chapter are taken from Een karavaan uit Perzië (A Caravan from Persia), edited and translated by J.T.P. de Bruijn, Amsterdam: Bulaaq, 2002.

All the passages from the Koran have been reworked. I’ve taken them out of context, mixed the lines of one surah with lines from another and translated them freely, using a number of different source texts and consulting various interpretations.

Although The House of the Mosque is based on historical fact, all the references to real people and actual events should be read according to the conventions of fiction.

Translator’s note: The passages from the Koran are a composite of several different English translations, including an online version translated by Yusef Ali. I am particularly indebted to Tarif Khalidi, The Qur’an, London: Penguin, 2008. Its poetic elegance makes it a pleasure to read.

I wish to thank Diane Webb for her editorial advice and R.M. McGlinn for his assistance with the transliteration and translation of Farsi into English.