Al-Ris la al-kh lida ("The Eternal Message").

AZZAM, Abdel Rahman.

Published by [Cairo:] D r al-Kit b al-'Arab , 1374 H / 1954 CE

About this Item

Second Arabic edition, presentation copy, of this influential statement of Pan-Arabism and anti-colonial thought, inscribed in July 1955: "To my friend Richard Young, lawyer, and my colleague in the Buraimi case." No other presentation copies have been traced. Abdel Rahman Azzam (1893-1976), known as Azzam Pasha, was an Egyptian nationalist and diplomat, first Secretary-General of the Arab League and original publisher of the work in 1946. After leaving office in 1952 and falling from favour with Nasser, he acted for Saudi interests as a trusted adviser and joined the Saudi delegation in the Buraimi territorial dispute. The inscription is to Richard Young, Aramco lawyer and Saudi counsel in that case. The book sets out the Prophet's "eternal message" as a basis for Islamic unity, tolerance, and charity, addressing relations with Jews and Christians, war, colonialism, and international order. This revised second edition adds a chapter on the Islamic state and moderates the earlier Pan-Arab emphasis. Malcolm X read the work in 1964, met Azzam during his first hajj, and soon after endorsed Sunni Islam as a faith of racial equality and brotherhood. Noura Saber Mohammed Saeed Al-Mazrouei, "UAE-Saudi Arabia Border Dispute: The Case of the 1974 Treaty of Jeddah", unpublished PhD thesis, University of Exeter, 2013; E. E. Curtis IV, "Islamism and Its African American Muslim Critics", in Religion and Politics in the Contemporary United States, ed. M. McAlister, 2008; M. Q. Morton, Buraimi: The Struggle for Power, Influence and Oil in Arabia, 2014. Quarto (240 x 172 mm). Text in Arabic. Contemporary green half morocco over green cloth boards, spine lettered in gilt, patterned endpapers. Pencilled (probably binder's) inscription in French at head of last verso. Joints and spine a trifle rubbed, contents toned but clean: a very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 185803

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Al-Ris la al-kh lida ("The Eternal Message").
• Publisher: [Cairo:] D r al-Kit b al-'Arab , 1374 H / 1954 CE