Description
Saeed the Fisherman is a classic novel by Marmaduke Pickthall, who later became known for his English translation of the Qur'an. It was first published in 1903 and is set mainly around Damascus and the eastern Mediterranean coast in the late Ottoman period. Saeed is a poor but ambitious fisherman who saves up to buy a coffeehouse, only to lose his savings. He sets out with his wife on a journey of trickery, theft and imposture, where fortune keeps turning. The story uses dry humour to explore luck, fate, pride and greed. Critics regard it as one of the earliest English-language novels to follow the life of a Muslim protagonist. It suits readers of early 20th-century fiction, Orientalist and postcolonial literature, and Pickthall's non-Qur'anic writing.