This timeless allegorical story which has touched the hearts of so many readers, continues to show new generations how it is possible to expand one's consciousness and to uncover God in man by dissolving man's sense of duality.
This book is essentially a dialogue between Mirdad and his disciples. These dialogues occurred during the time he was admitted as a servant in the monastery of Alter Peak. This dialogue consists of answers and questions with his chief disciple Naronda. Mirdad’s teachings cover all the important life issues such as love, the master-servant relationship, creative silence, money; the moneylender and the debtor, the cycle of time and death, repentance of old age etc. Mirdad’s words are the words of an enlightened Sufi master.
Mikhail Naimy tells of the visit of the mysterious stranger, Mirdad, to the remote mountain monastery, the Ark. The culmination and indeed the message of the story is that Mirdad's own Ark is the Ark of Holy Understanding, which will bring mankind through another deluge, greater than Noah's, when heaven will be revealed on earth.
Mikhail Naimy was a contemporary of Kahlil Gibran and his writing style is very much influenced by Gibran. It has been said that the way the book has been written, unraveling one layer after another, shows that it has descended from some mysterious source.
