The mistake we make is to attribute to religions the errors and fanaticism of human beings.

I read a poem every night, as others read a prayer.

In the 70s I was in exile; every time I went back I wondered if they'd take my passport away.

We do not have many intellectuals who can speak out for us internationally. We have no writers who are recognized, respected and loved outside the Arab world.

It is impossible to disregard such an important medium as television. We should know how to use it, learn to work in it and express new values in it.

We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world.

I am glad to have found a readership, but one can’t write only what is likely to sell. A writer is not a shopkeeper. A writer creates an imaginary world that he transmits to others.