In Abu l-Abbas’s Neighbors, Ahmad Toufiq, the Moroccan Minister of Religious Affairs and a prominent figure in his country’s Sufi movements, presents his readers with a portrait of one of the country’s most significant historical Sufi figures, Abu l-Abbas as-Sabti, generally known as Si BelAbbas, with a renowned shrine in his name in the city of Marrakesh. Toufiq places his career in a fraught period of Moroccan history, as one Amazigh Muslim dynasty—the Almoravids—is challenged and eventually replaced by a yet more conservative movement—the Almohads. From their base in the capital city of Marrakesh, both dynasties control not only the territories of Morocco itself, but also large tracts of the land across the straits named after its Muslim conqueror, Tariq, namely Spain. The novel skillfully combines descriptions of the conflicts on both sides of the Straits of Gibraltar with debates over the interpretation of Islamic doctrine and the development of a variety of sciences, all placed within a social and intellectual context imbued with Sufi thought.there is the primary topic of the novel, in terms of both the historical period in which it is set, the wide geographical area that provides its physical background, and the intellectual movements that it covers. Readers find themselves learning not merely about the North African dimensions of Islamic rule in Morocco, but also its extension across the straits into Andalusia, Muslim Spain. Toufiq’s long-standing acquaintance with and devotion to the city of Marrakesh comes through clearly in this novel. As his childhood autobiography (that I have also translated) makes clear, he is totally familiar with every gate, mosque, street, alleyway, and shrine in that much fabled city, and some of that love and familiarity is inevitably reflected on the pages of this novel. The conflict between the two rival dynasties—the Almoravids and Almohads—that takes place in and around the city is depicted in vivid detail, and the title character is shown to be not only a major intellectual figure—making the acquaintance of major scholars such as Ibn Tufayl, Ibn Rushd (Averroes), and Ibn Zuhr, but also someone who has the deepest concern for the poor and sick, establishing charitable programmes and hospitals where they can be cared for and treated.The resulting narrative is a rich portrait of an era in Morocco’s history, the products of which were to have a considerable impact, via Spain, Toledo, and the monastery of Cluny in central France, on European learning during the medieval centuries.