Balthasar’s Odyssey October 2004

Amin Maalouf: ‘Balthasar’s Odyssey’ (Vintage 2003) translated from the French by Barbara Bray
ISBN 0 09 945208 1

see review on  http://www.spikemagazine.com/0704aminmaalouf.php

Ottoman Istanbul   

Anticipating a global catastrophe in 1666 the ‘year of the beast’, when the end of the world is prophesied, Balthasar Embriaco, a dealer in curiosities from the Levant, sets out in search of a rare book. In addition to the 99 names revealed in the Koran, the ‘Hundredth Name’ is thought to reveal the highest name of God, which will be able to avert the apocalyptic disaster. Balthasar’s Odyssey takes him to Constantinople through treacherous Mediterranean seas to Genoa and through a naval war zone to Europe. He arrives in London shortly before the Great Fire.

The insights from people on the journey seemed somehow relevant to today’s inter-faith arena.

The Blind Sheikh Abdel-Bassit:

‘Istanbul, Istanbul. To those that have eyes it’s hard to say the world has nothing to show. Yet it’s true, believe me. If you want to know the world, all you need to do is listen. What people see when they travel is never more than an illusion. Shadows chasing other shadows. The roads and the countries teach us nothing we don’t know already, nothing we can’t hear within ourselves in the peace of the night'  (p24)

Boumeh, his nephew:

‘Allah is just a concentration of ‘al ilah’ which simply means ‘the god’ It’s not a name, it’s just a designation’. (p 96)

Ali Esphanai, fellow traveller:

Ever since the dawn of Islam scholars have argued over a verse that occurs three times in similar terms in the Koran and lends itself to various interpretations. He quoted the phrase carefully: ‘Fa sabbih bismi rabbika-I-azim,’ which may be translated as ‘Glorify the name of your Lord – the Most High. The ambiguity arises from the fact that in Arabic the epithet ‘I-azim’, ‘the Most High’, may refer wither to the Lord or to His Name. In the first case the verse is merely a normal exhortation to glorify the name of the Lord. But if the second interpretation is correct the verse might mean ‘Glorify your Lord by His Highest Name’, which would suggest that among the names of God there is a major one which is superior to all the others, the invoking of which produces special results (p274)

Father Thomas:

The only way for a Christian to address God is through prayer. He must be humble and obedient and tell him of his own grievances and hope concluding by saying Amen and trusting that His will may be done. Proud men, on the other hand, look in the books of the magicians for forms of words that they think can alter or divert God’s will. They imagine Providence as a ship, whose tiller they, poor mortals through they are, may manipulate to suit their own purposes. But God is not a ship – He is the Master of all ships , and of the seas, and of quiet skies and tempests alike. He cannot be ruled by forms of words, invented by magicians, nor constrained by phrases or figures. He is incomprehensible and unpredictable, and woe to him who thinks he can tame him! (p94/5)

Balthasar himself reflects:

‘When people think the world is about to founder, something goes wrong and men lapse into either extreme devotion or extreme debauchery.’ (p66)

I enjoyed Balthasar, a ‘bewildered and worldly hero’ in this historical novel, cum spiritual treatise, cum travelogue. But then I am not like the blind Sheik. Travel (and travel writing) is for me a way of reflection.

From your own correspondent

Woking Oct 2004