Zubair Qureshi
President Dr Arif Alvi has shared the 10 ‘best books’ he read during the last year recommending them to the general public to read them too and see how important it is to keep reading good books.
These books are on a variety of subjects such as politics, history, Sufism, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and astronomy etc. The president, in a detailed video message, shared that the purpose of sharing these titles was to tell how he was motivated by his quest for exploration into Allah’s universe, Sufism, democracy, Pakistan, his passion for artificial intelligence and global peace and development.
“Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy” written by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson is the first book on his ‘Must Read’ list and according to the president gave a mathematical analysis of the revival of democracies in the world either consequent to any struggle or accidents. It outlines the arduous journey of reclaiming people’s rights from dictators, spanning centuries of struggle as well as the resistance of the elite towards democracy.
The second book “Democracy and Islam in History” by SM Zafar delves into the democratic processes observed during the election of the four caliphs and how they established democratic and judicial institutions. It highlights the evolution and significance of consultative practices in Islamic history.
The president also recommended Elif Shafak’s “The 40 Rules of Love: On Mawlana Rumi and Shams Tabraizi,” which explores Sufism and the profound friendship between Rumi and Tabraizi.
‘The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything’ by Michio Kaku, is also one that has stirred the president’s imagination and touched him deeply.
The book charts the evolution of our understanding of the universe over time, from the Aristotelian concept of four elemental components—earth, water, fire, and air—to modern scientific discoveries such as magnetic fields, radio waves, atoms, and nuclei.
It says that the universe visible to humans constitutes just 5pc of its total size, with dark matter comprising 26pc and dark energy 70pc. The president also endorsed “On The Origin of Time” by Thomas Hertog, a student of Stephen Hawking. It delves into the anthropic principle of the universe’s creation.
In the year 2023 the president also studied “Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World” by Mo Gawdat.
Another book, suggested by Alvi is “Honor Bound to Pakistan in Duty, Destiny and Death: Iskandar Mirza, Pakistan’s First Elected President’s Memoir From Exile” written by Syed Khawar Mehdi. It is a compilation of Mirza’s tape recordings, conversations and notes.
