Hamid &; Zahra

An Odyssey, a symposium, a book in the style of some of the great stories told over generations by Bedouin storytellers, Hamid & Zahra is a fictitious love story set in Qatar in the period immediately leading up to the announcement of the country's success as host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. A member of the ruling family, the reader joins the protagonist, Hamid, as he is about to embark on his Odyssey in 2010. During our short acquaintance, Hamid renews his faith in God, falls in love with a beautiful woman, Zahra, meets a group of intellectuals, and matures professionally, emotionally, and intellectually. His extraordinary dreams mirror his predicament, but the central question remains: where in all of this does Hamid's vision, his 'Plan', first surface? A few clues do point to the source for Hamid's vision, and it is up to the reader to decide what influenced Hamid's thoughts between his initial inspiration and the moment he printed out his written plan to present to the emir. Where fantasy unravels colourfully across the fissures of fact, Hamid & Zahra is a love story, a mystery, and a potted history of a region in flux.