I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.

I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.

I consider Khomeini's position dangerous. He does not have the right to pass judgment-that is not the Islamic way.

Literature should be more revolutionary than revolutions themselves; writers must find the means to continue to be critical of the negative elements in the sociopolitical reality.

One effect that the Nobel Prize seems to have had is that more Arabic literary works have been translated into other languages.

The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.

Freedom of expression must be considered sacred and thought can only be corrected by counter thought.