The Hakawati MERCEDES "SLK 200 KOMPESSOR" SCHWARZ BJ.2006 RECHTSLENKER in MERCEDES "SLK 200 KOMPESSOR" SCHWARZ BJ.2006 RECHTSLENKER in 2006 Mercedes SLK 200 Iconic Classic Cars. In 2003, Osama al Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps. Through Osama, we also enter the world of the contemporary Lebanese men and women whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war, conflicted identity, and survival. With The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century.