First Arab novel in English one century old

A century ago, Lebanese writer Amin Rihani released The Book of Khalid, the first English book by an Arab and the first to tackle one of the most important issues that has for years occupied Arabs abroad—immigration.

Amin Rihani, one of the founders of the movement called al-Mahjar established by Arab intellaectuals abroad and the forerunner of Arab-American literature, is credited for being one of the first writers to deal with the issue of immigration not only from a general human perspective, said Todd Fine , director of Project Kahlid, dedicated Rihani’s memory.

According to Fine, The Book of Khalid preceded Italian, Jewish, or Irish immigration novels and was the first to focus on the life of immigrants in the United States, particularly in New York.

Through focusing on the lives of its heros, two young men from Baalbak in Lebanon, in Manhattan, The Book of Khalid has transcended being only a literary work and has now become a chronicle of immigrant life in the United States.

Despite its importance for Arab culture, The Book of Khalid was only reprinted twice since it was first released in 1911 and members of Rihani’s family are now working on making more copies available in bookstores.

The Book of Khalid is also not known well enough in the Arab world, said Rihani’s nephew Ramzi al-Rihani.

“Amin Rihani is more known in the Arab world for his writings in Arabic as well as his Arab nationalism initiatives and his visits to Arab kings in the 1920s,” he said.

In 1922, Rihani travelled to different parts in the Arabian Peninsula and developed a special friendship with King Abdul Aziz, the first Saudi monarch. He wrote six books in English and Arabic about this trip and two others he made to the region.

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)