"The Theocrat" takes as its subject one of Arab and Islamic history's most perplexing figures, al-Hakim bi-Amr Illah ('the ruler by order of God'), the Fatimid caliph who ruled Egypt during the tenth century and whose career was a direct reflection of both the tensions within the Islamic dominions as a whole and of the conflicts within his own mind. In this remarkable novel, Bensalem Himmich explores these tensions and conflicts and their disastrous consequences on an individual ruler and on his people. Himmich does not spare his readers the full horror and tragedy of al-Hakim's reign, but in employing a variety of textual styles-including quotations from some of the best-known medieval Arab historians; vivid historical narratives; a series of extraordinary decrees issued by the caliph; and, most remarkably, the inspirational utterances of al-Hakim during his ecstatic visions, recorded by his devotees and subsequently a basis for the foundation of the Druze community-he succeeds brilliantly in painting a portrait of a character whose sheer unpredictability throws into relief the qualities of those who find themselves forced to cajole, confront, or oppose him.

Award-winning novelist Bensalem Himmich's third novel to be translated into English is a vertiginous exploration of one of Islam's most radical thinkers, the Sufi philosopher Ibn Sab'in. Born in Spain, he was forced to immigrate to Africa because of his controversial views. Later expelled from Egypt, Ibn Sab'in made his way to Mecca, where he spent his final years. Himmich follows the philosopher's journey, outlining an array of characters he meets along the way who usher in debates of identity and personal responsibility through their interactions and relationships with Ibn Sab'in. Set against the backdrop of a politically charged thirteenth-century Islamic world, Himmich's novel is a rich blend of fact and imagination that re-creates the intellectual debates of the time. As the culture of prosperity and tradition was giving way to the chaos created by political and social instability, many Arabs, as Ibn Sab'in does in the novel, turned inward toward a spiritual search for meaning. In his fictional portrait of Ibn Sab'in, Himmich succeeds in creating a character, with his many virtues and flaws, to whom all readers can relate.