Founded in 1979 by childhood friends André Gaspard and the late writer Mai Ghoussoub, Al Saqi Books became London's favourite repository of Arabic literature, a place where Middle Easterners could maintain contact with their culture.
Founded in 1979 by childhood friends André Gaspard and the late writer Mai Ghoussoub, Al Saqi Books became London's favourite repository of Arabic literature, a place where Middle Easterners could maintain contact with their culture.
Founded in 1979 by childhood friends André Gaspard and the late writer Mai Ghoussoub, Al Saqi Books became London's favourite repository of Arabic literature, a place where Middle Easterners could maintain contact with their culture.
Founded in 1979 by childhood friends André Gaspard and the late writer Mai Ghoussoub, Al Saqi Books became London's favourite repository of Arabic literature, a place where Middle Easterners could mai

MENA

Arab Showcase

Compelling tale of London's oldest Arabic bookstore as Al Saqi closes

In our continuing series of inspiring life stories across continents, we featured a British institution with its own page in history

Jamie Prentis
Jamie Prentis

December 05, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

Al Saqi Books, beleaguered by the pandemic lockdowns, flash flooding, disrupted supply chains and the cost of living crisis, is to bring the shutters down on its Westbourne Grove shopfront for the last time after 44 years. As the specialist Arab-world bookseller prepares for a closing-down sale later this month, we republish our Arab Showcase article that originally ran on January 26, 2021.

Sometimes a bookshop is as much about the building where it is housed as the bindings and words on the shelves.

As London's favourite repository of Arabic literature, Al Saqi Books has nestled for decades comfortably in a converted former theatre almost as extraordinary outside as the tales within the volumes for sale.

The facade is inconceivably elaborate, covered in arches, niches in spandrels and sculpted pilasters intermingled with carved fauna and flora, and figures of angels playing instruments, heralding what might lay in store.

Busts of writers Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon as well as painters Rubens and Raphael sit in circular panels on high observing the milling of Arab language readers below.

The melange makes Saqi an experience all to its own. Founded in 1979 by childhood friends André Gaspard and the late writer Mai Ghoussoub, who made London their home after they left the violence of the civil war in Lebanon, it is a means of Middle Easterners maintaining contact with their culture.

Saqi sits within the old Westbourne Hall, built as an entertainment venue in 1861, with a yellow and blue shop sign out the front symbolising its mission statement: 'Saqi means water-seller in Arabic,' says Ms Gaspard. 'So it’s water, life, knowledge.' Courtesy Al Saqi Books/Alamy
Saqi sits within the old Westbourne Hall, built as an entertainment venue in 1861, with a yellow and blue shop sign out the front symbolising its mission statement: 'Saqi means water-seller in Arabic,' says Ms Gaspard. 'So it’s water, life, knowledge.' Courtesy Al Saqi Books/Alamy

They were both Trotskyists who became involved in humanitarian efforts in the early years of the conflict until Ghoussoub lost an eye while attempting to evacuate a wounded Palestinian to hospital.

She sought treatment in Paris, and then settled in London, where she quickly realised that there weren’t any Arabic language bookshops, and suggested to Mr Gaspard that they open one.

In the London store, they would be joined by Mr Gaspard’s wife, Salwa, and the three freethinkers then single-mindedly set up a publishing house to print English language books on the MENA region after growing frustrated at the lack of works available.

As Lynn Gaspard, the daughter of André and Salwa, explains, none of them had a publishing background, but all had been avid readers to obtain information and "intellectual escape" in troubled times in Lebanon.

Lynn Gaspard, the daughter of Saqi founders Andre and Salwa, used to play hide and seek between the bookshelves with her sister as a child: 'Saqi’s my home,' she says. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Lynn Gaspard, the daughter of Saqi founders Andre and Salwa, used to play hide and seek between the bookshelves with her sister as a child: 'Saqi’s my home,' she says. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The exterior of Al Saqi Books, which is housed in a four-storey building in Bayswater that was built in 1861. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The exterior of Al Saqi Books, which is housed in a four-storey building in Bayswater that was built in 1861. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Ms Gaspard is proud of the space that Saqi occupies in publishing important books that she believes can effect change. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Ms Gaspard is proud of the space that Saqi occupies in publishing important books that she believes can effect change. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Andre Gaspard, above with his daughter Lynn, who never intended to join the family business but did so after falling in love with Saqi. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Andre Gaspard, above with his daughter Lynn, who never intended to join the family business but did so after falling in love with Saqi. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The Lebanese writer and artist Mai Ghoussoub (left), co-founder of Saqi, with her compatriot and author Hanan Al Shaykh. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The Lebanese writer and artist Mai Ghoussoub (left), co-founder of Saqi, with her compatriot and author Hanan Al Shaykh. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Wendy Buonaventura, the author the Serpent on the Nile, with Andre Gaspard, co-founder of Al Saqi bookshop. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Wendy Buonaventura, the author the Serpent on the Nile, with Andre Gaspard, co-founder of Al Saqi bookshop. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Andre Gaspard was honoured by Lebanon's Ministry of Culture in 2008 at an event in Kensington Town Hall for his contribution to culture in the country. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Andre Gaspard was honoured by Lebanon's Ministry of Culture in 2008 at an event in Kensington Town Hall for his contribution to culture in the country. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The Saqi Books team of the late Nineties, with Andre Gaspard bottom left, his wife Salwa, top right, and co-founder Mai middle row on the right. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
The Saqi Books team of the late Nineties, with Andre Gaspard bottom left, his wife Salwa, top right, and co-founder Mai middle row on the right. Courtesy Al Saqi Books

Ms Gaspard points out the yellow and blue sign above the shop door, featuring the image of a man with a camel leather bag on his back bending down to two children, as the mission statement.

“The word Saqi means water-seller in Arabic,” Ms Gaspard says. “If you know our logo from our bookshop, you’ll see this. So it’s water, life, knowledge. That’s the whole meaning of Saqi.”

As the Lebanese war raged in the Eighties, Saqi, along with the Kufa Gallery next door, became a cultural hub for Middle Easterners, where Arabs, many of whom were in exile, would congregate and share their thoughts. From the Iraqi opposition to established and rising intellectuals, it was a space where differing opinions could be aired without fear.

For Salwa, in particular, however, it has long been a source of pride that most agreed at least in thinking of the small shop as a home from home - and still do.

In the case of the young Lynn, who spent a substantial part of her childhood there, it was even more so. "Saqi's my home," Ms Gaspard tells The National. "Saqi's much more than just a business to me. It symbolises so much more than that. I literally grew up in Saqi as a child," the 37-year-old says, with a laugh.

“After school, the minibus would drop me off at the bookshop and I would play in the basement,” she recalls. “My sister and I would play hide and seek among all the books, the shelves bursting full with Arabic and English language books. It was a lot of fun, and a really exciting time. The bookshop was thriving.”

Ms Gaspard, who eventually took over the publishing arm, said that one of the first books printed was The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, by the Lebanese-born French author Amin Maalouf. It would be joined on the shelves by scores of others over the next decades, on subjects as varied as politics and Arab art to cookery and travel.

The building was long owned by Dr Mohamed Makiya, a well-regarded Iraqi architect who set up the neighbouring Kufa Gallery where Saqi’s lively promotional events were held.

“It was a space where exhibitions, conferences and talks were held, and the Iraqi opposition at the time was invited to hold their meetings.

“In the Eighties, Saqi and the Kufa together became this incredible cultural institution for Middle Easterners in London, around the UK, but also internationally – as it is today, though without the Kufa Gallery unfortunately.”

The point of Saqi isn't to be controversial. It's to encourage a free flow of ideas and knowledge

Five years after the Saqi imprint was launched, her father returned to Beirut to establish a sister outfit, Dar Al Saqi, with the remit of printing seminal titles of philosophy, Western thought and social theory, as well as original fiction by Arab authors often finding it hard to be published elsewhere. It has since become one of the region’s most prestigious publishing houses.

In 2008, Saqi was honoured at a 25th anniversary event at Kensington Town Hall, attended by 600 people to celebrate an award given by Lebanon’s Ministry of Culture to Mr Gaspard for his contribution to culture in the country.

The successes in London and Beirut have come in spite of many challenges over the years. Aside from the usual financial ups and downs associated with running an independent business, some have been of the more unusual variety: hate mail, death threats, smashed windows at the time of the Salman Rushdie fatwa and again during the invasion of Iraq, listings on Al-Qaeda websites, and even a bomb dropped on a warehouse in Beirut by an Israeli war plane in 2006.

Ms Gaspard says that the Arabic language department is the most successful, and many customers come from around the world to find books that are unavailable in their native countries. The running joke at the shop, she says, is that there should be a separate “banned books” section.

The bay windows of Saqi were smashed when copies of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, above, were featured behind the glass. Staff removed them from the shattered shopfront and sold them out the back. Terry Smith/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images
The bay windows of Saqi were smashed when copies of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, above, were featured behind the glass. Staff removed them from the shattered shopfront and sold them out the back. Terry Smith/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images

“The point of Saqi isn’t to publish controversial works or to be controversial in any way,” she wants to make clear. “It’s to encourage a free flow of ideas and intellectual endeavours and knowledge, which is so essential because often back home and even today if there’s an opposing view, it will be censored.”

She and her parents have long been motivated by the simple concept of “good” books. First and foremost, she says, it has to have beautiful writing if it’s a literary offering. For non-fiction, the emphasis is on rigorous, scholarly work.

“We are a progressive publishing house but Saqi does not by any means only publish left-leaning books,” Ms Gaspard says. “We are open. We will publish works that we don’t necessarily agree with, whose main arguments may not be in line with our own personal ones. As long as the work is intellectually stimulating and well backed up and adds value to the scholarship then that’s a good book to my mind.”

Much of Saqi’s intended publishing programme for 2020 was postponed to this year because of Covid-19. Though, bolstered by a strong performance - the best in seven years - before coronavirus, the business began the pandemic in an enviable position.

“These are unprecedented times,” Ms Gaspard says. “We're now relying solely on online and ebook sales, both of which have seen a big increase since spring last year.”

All the authors, all the artists, they are the heroes. We are custodians. It's a privilege for us

She credits the loyalty of Saqi’s clientele for sustaining hope. They are a great support, she says, and lists among them royals who fill their suitcases with books to take back home, friendly Notting Hill celebrities, locals and tourists both Arabic and Westerners alike, universities and embassies.

“And then we have all our authors, all the artists; they’re the heroes,” Ms Gaspard says. “ We are custodians. It’s a privilege for us to work on their works and to help disseminate them internationally. They’re entrusting us with their babies. It’s our job to do the best we can."

Despite a childhood spent on the shop floor, Ms Gaspard never intended to have a career within the family business. Instead, she had wanted to work in international development to “change the world”. At some point, though, the ink had entered her blood.

“I fell in love with Saqi,” she says. “I loved what we represented, I loved the people, I loved what they were doing. And I realised that I’m much more comfortable with this sort of influence because I think you can have an important impact on your community and the wider culture through books."

Ms Gaspard believes that through literature - Arabic or otherwise - readers can find enjoyment while imperceptibly having their outlooks broadened. Courtesy Al Saqi Books
Ms Gaspard believes that through literature - Arabic or otherwise - readers can find enjoyment while imperceptibly having their outlooks broadened. Courtesy Al Saqi Books

Now Ms Gaspard sees Saqi's role in easing insular mentalities and bridging the widening divides. There is, she concedes, still a lot of work to be done, and it encourages her to do more.

"It proves how important outfits like Saqi are," she says. "All these minority publishers or cultural endeavours, we have to keep going. We can’t lose faith.

“A really gentle way to encourage positivity in our communities is to publish a good book, a life-changing or life-affirming - or whatever it may be - book."

Ms Gaspard believes that through literature, Arabic or otherwise, readers can find personal enrichment, both in terms of enjoyment but also in imperceptibly having their outlooks broadened. Within the pages, she says, lies the opportunity to be enlightened.

“It’s a window into another culture,” she says, “and so, without even noticing, your mind is opening.”

So it is that Saqi, the water-seller, will continue to slake a thirst for knowledge, a more crucial figure in the marketplace now than since the sign first went up above the door.

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A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.

The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.

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Always use only regulated platforms

Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion

Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)

Report to local authorities

Warn others to prevent further harm

Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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Financial considerations before buying a property

Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.

“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says. 

Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.

Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier. 

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New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.

Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.

Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.  

Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

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Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

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Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

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South Korea
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The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

The%20specs
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.

The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.

The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.

The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.

What the law says

Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.

“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.

“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”

If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.

Our commentary on Brexit
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
While you're here
GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

While you're here
Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo

The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
​​​​​​​Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km

Killing of Qassem Suleimani

SPECS

Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR

Engine: 5.7-litre V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 362hp

Torque: 530Nm

Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

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