I started writing while I was a little boy. Maybe it's because I was reading a lot of books I admired, and thought that I would like to write something like that someday. Also, my love for good writing pushed me.

Without literature my life would be miserable.

We used the Western style to express our own themes and stories. But don't forget that our heritage includes The Thousand and One Nights.

Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life.

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

The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.

Home is not where you were born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.