372 ACKNOWLEDGMENTSthere is my friend Akbar Nowrouz: Akbar-jan, where would I be without
all the Islamic-wisdom stories you send to my e-mail?
But above all, thank you to my wife, Deborah Krant, my first reader,
first critic, and indispensable partner; thank you to Elina Ansary, for help-
ing me so much with the maps; and thank you, Jessamyn Ansary, for being
so endlessly supportive.