Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu is the secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The Arabic edition of this book was awarded the Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Award for Translation in 2008. He was the founding director of IRCICA. Humphrey Davies is the translator of The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany (AUC Press, 2004) and Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury, for which he was awarded the Banipal Prize for Literary Translation. He was awarded the 2010 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation for his translation of Yalo by Elias Khoury.