Mohamed Seif El Nasr grew up in Cairo, Egypt, attended the Collège de la Sainte Famille du Caire, received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from the American University in Cairo, and worked for over a decade in corporate banking before changing paths and pursuing a career in writing. His published work includes several historical and political pieces in Mada Masr, Mondoweiss, Truthout, and elsewhere. Then He Sent Prophets is his first novel.

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  • Then He Sent Prophets

    Morocco, 1359. The people of Fes are living in deprivation under the rule of an unjust sultan. Zakaria is a young Muslim scholar trying to sustain his family while committing to a rigid moral code. To provide for his sickly daughter, he sacrifices his principles. He seeks a job at the palace, where he gradually becomes entangled in a web of intrigue, his conscience tormented by serving the sultan. In the hope of fleeing from the constraints of his world, he joins the quest of Muhammad ibn Yusuf, the exiled king of Granada, and his enchanting sister, Aisha, to reclaim their throne. Together, they set out to Andalusia on a journey that will call into question all of Zakaria’s beliefs and change the history of the Iberian Peninsula for decades to come.

    Then He Sent Prophets is a story about the suffering of young idealists in a world of inevitable compromise. Throughout his journey, Zakaria faces internal struggles that are timeless and universal, strives to reconcile his faith with the world, doubts the motives behind his desire to live morally, and ends up wondering whether a life consisting of one compromise after another is one worth living.