The Boy Without a Name

(Bilingual English-Urdu edition) On the day a boy is born, his parents are visited by a wise man who tells them, "This is a very, very important boy, and I'm going to give him something marvelous one day, but I will have to give him his name first. So please don't give him a name yet." So they named the boy Benaam, which means "nameless." The story tells how he seeks and eventually finds his own true name, and how he also gives away an old dream that he doesn't want - and gets a wonderful new dream. This is one of an illustrated series of Sufi teaching stories from the Middle East and Central Asia that were collected and adapted for children by Idries Shah, and that have captivated hearts and minds for more than a thousand years. The stories are designed to help children learn to examine their assumptions and to think for themselves. Among the many insights The Boy Without a Name can provoke is the idea that it takes patience and resolve to achieve one's goals in life. Mona Caron's beautiful watercolor illustrations embellish this unusual and captivating story, presenting the wonder of this hidden world to both children and adults.