A rich and vibrant collection of stories that will be treasured by all who wish to broaden their understanding of Islamic tales and traditions.



Winner of the 2004 Aesop Prize, Ayat Jamilah: Beautiful Signs draws from the core of Islamic spirituality and ethics, the Qur’an and the hadiths, and also from a rich history of mystical verse, folk tales and figures of the Islamic narrative. Ayat Jamilah gathers traditional stories from the farthest reaches of the Muslim world, which stretches from Morocco in the west to Indonesia in the east, and from China in the north to Tanzania in the south. This singular anthology, with its thorough explanatory notes, will be invaluable to anyone wishing to understand, or to teach, geography, world history, or world religions. It will also be treasured by Muslim families and by all parents committed to broadening the lives and values of their children and themselves. 

Illustrated by: Valerie Wahl