Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Amy Lignor is talking with Amro Kabeel, author of Scribbles of Realisation.

FQ: The thoughts you share in this work are amazing; the tales truly reach the heart. Can you tell people when it was you realized that these ‘scribblings’ you were jotting down were actually a sort of guide that needed to be published?

KABEEL: When I was writing my scribbles, a part of me always felt like I wasn’t only writing for myself, but I never really pictured publishing them. When the thought first came to me I felt that I knew so little to be making such a move. However, I eventually started organizing my writings into one document and I prayed that it would reach the hearts of people. Whether they do become a guide or not is hard to tell, but I believe any effort in the right direction should never be neglected.

FQ: Even though there are many, what is the one point/realization – on a personal level – that you hope readers will listen to, learn, and understand in this book?

KABEEL: It is the realisation of the soul; that in reality, everything we’re looking for is already within us and contained in our connection to God.

FQ: Do you still have mentors that you turn to for help and support? Is there one thing you wish to say, or the one person you wish to thank, for their help along the way?

KABEEL: Both my mother and my Sheikh (priest) are always here for me, and I thank God for putting them in my life and for allowing their wisdom to pass through to me. They are always there to listen and to help; I really couldn’t have made it without them.

FQ: According to your bio, you are an Egyptian Muslim writer living in the Middle East. Can you give our readers a description of your normal writing day? Perhaps locations you go to for inspiration? And what the social/cultural climate is in your hometown that has an effect on your writing?

KABEEL: Writing is and always has been my hobby. Just recently, I found emails reaching out to publishers from when I was 17 years old! Yet although I’m connected to it, I’ve never really practiced writing as regularly as I should. What usually triggers me to jot is feelings – feelings triggered by events, people encounters, or a personal reflection. The socio-cultural environment here is no different than the West in many ways, and that often becomes the setting for my expression.

FQ: I read that you like to “read life’s signs” while also loving the learning process. Can you explain the first a bit more in detail, and for the second, are you a researcher who loves history and educates himself on all that the past, as well as the present, has to offer?

KABEEL: I like to stop and think objectively about everything I go through. What is God trying to tell me here? What is expected for me in this situation? What am I understanding from all of this? And yes, I guess I am a researcher, it kind of comes naturally in this day and age. I really enjoy learning more about history and religion.

FQ: Is there a personal “flaw” or obsession you have that you work on righting to this day?

KABEEL: I would like to have more empathy.

FQ: In your mind, do you see the world as coming together one day; having people find the humanity all of us share in order to see more peace? And, if you had the power to right one social or political error, what would that be?

KABEEL: In my mind, the world is already together, and we all have the humanity to share love and peace. I’m not really into politics, but if I could change or improve anything, it would be poverty. The current systems in place are just not right, otherwise things would be different.

FQ: Have you thought about (or are you already in the process of) penning another book? If so, can you give readers a little sneak peek at what that might be?

KABEEL: Although Scribbles of Realisation is really special to me, I think I need to pen a concrete piece of work that readers can easily digest and follow through. I’m not currently working on my second book, but I hope to start it soon.

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