An English translation of Maalouf's partly historical, partly fictional account of Mani, a third century AD Persian mystic whose syncretic dualistic religious philosophy, Manichaeism, was destroyed by
Isma and Hajila are both wives of the same man, but they are not rivals. Isma - older, vibrant, passionate, emancipated - is in stark contrast to the passive, cloistered Hajila. In alternating chapte
