In this provocative and dreamyparable, a young man disillusioned by the corruption of his homelandsets out on a quest to findGebel, the land of perfection, from which no one has ever returned. On his way, Ibn Fattouma passes through a series of very differentlands--realms where the moon is worshipped, where marriage does not exist, where kings are treated like gods, and where freedom, toleration,and justice are alternately held as the highest goods. All of these places, however, are inevitably marredby the specter of war, and Ibn Fattouma finds himself continually driven onward, ever seeking.Like the protagonists ofA Pilgrim's Progressand Gulliver's Travels, NaguibMahfouz's hero travels not through any recognizable historical landscape, but through timeless aspects ofhumanpossibility.