Hachette Antoine Publishing House, under the imprint of "Naufal," stands out for its publication of the works of Mikhail Naima, one of the most prominent contemporary Arab writers and Lebanese expatriate writers. His writings are characterized by attempts to purify Arabic literature from ornamentation and excessive speech, and to approach the depiction of the reality of things and events. His style is marked by simplicity, clarity, and frankness, and he avoids exaggeration, especially in description, narration, or depiction. , , His language sometimes appears closer to colloquial dialect, which increases the desire of readers of all ages to read his books. The main theme revolves around love. Arqash, a young Argentine-educated man of Lebanese origin, falls madly in love with a supremely beautiful girl. However, the infatuated Arqash soon discovers in love those two eternal and conflicting poles that human nature contends with, and finds himself crucified between them; we love and we ascend, and our soul becomes more and more transparent until we almost touch the throne of God. We crave and we condense our physical desires until we wallow like pigs in the mud. Arqash kills his virgin bride on their wedding night, and as a result of the shock, he loses his memory. He only knows that he is a speechless servant in a Syrian restaurant in New York, writing his memoirs in a wooden box behind the kitchen where he takes refuge every night. Naima uses Arqash as a mask through which he expresses, in the form of memoirs, the essence of his experiences that he had been brewing within himself during his youth in New York City (1916-1932). As for the key to all the memoirs, with their multiplicity and diverse subjects, it is a note left by Arqash near the bed of his sacrificed beloved, on which is written: "I killed my love with my own hands, because it was beyond what my body could bear and below what my soul yearns for.
