“Unexpectedly Nabil stepped out into an octagonal courtyard. In the centre sat a beautiful star shaped basin. Two overlaid squares turned around a common centre. Eight-pointed. Around him there were twelve dark door openings. Above them were twelve dark portholes. Through a circular aperture in the top of the tall dome, he saw above him the distant paleness of Aleppo’s winter sky. He had never seen anything like it.” ( from The Octagonal Room)
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