Verses of Love

When Egypt was still fresh in my mind, Acu urged me to read Habiburrahman El Shirazy’s novel Ayat-Ayat Cinta. I remember him mentioning a year ago that the novel is a hit with his friends. I didn’t think much of the novel; I felt (cough) what my brother reads will not suit me. This time, when he said that the novel is about Egypt, I didn’t hesitate. Needless to say, I read it as fast as I could, with intermittent smiles, tears and other interjections of recognition.

Co-incidentally, TV3 was to show the movie adaptation on 10th Syawal. Before the film was aired, I bought the CD (alongside Aizat’s excellent debut album) at Tesco. While the movie is good, the book is better. The writing is simple yet stylish. I think I may have lost the beauty of the language as I opted for the Bahasa Melayu version, but the messages are hard to miss. There is so much Islamic values and ideals to be learned from this book. And there is enough drama to keep one glued to the book.

This novel is one of few books that I reluctantly finish and will reread. If you have time to read only one book this month, read this one.

Now the novel is further entrenched in my life as the novel’s protagonist has inspired the name of my new nephew, Muhammad Arif Fahry.