How Moroccan history comes back to life.

A world on the brink

Conference cycle

“True history is intertwined with everything. It is bound up with everything. The true historian is interested in everything.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Yahya, the berber Warrior - (Je te donnerai Marrakech) retraces the little-known fate of Yahyā U Tā’fuft, a sixteenth-century Berber caïd of Safi, a forgotten figure in Moroccan history. Under the banner of King Manuel I of Portugal, he built a feared power base in the Doukkala region, protecting the area for a time from famine and tribal wars. A strategist and undefeated warrior, he reached the gates of Marrakech in 1517, without ever entering the city. This novel explores what history left unspoken, in a Morocco divided between the Wattasids, the Saadians, and the Portuguese colonizers. Branded a traitor for his alliance with Lisbon, Yahyā is presented here not as a Judas, but as a man torn between survival, loyalty, and ambition. Through his epic story, Anas Chraïbi delivers a powerful fresco of a country in agony, of the choices imposed by the violence of the world, and of the possibilities that never came to pass. -

“Je te donnerai Marrakech” – Qitab – July 25, 2025

“A powerful, deeply inhabited fresco, poised between historical rigor and the breath of fiction.” Mouna Hachim

Book 1 - Yahya

Book 2 - Mohammed Echeykh

“A cinematic novel. This book reads like a film unfolding on the screen.” — Gérard Poupon

“The images flow one after another, the pace is gripping, and the variety of situations constantly holds the reader’s attention. Intrigue, battles, and human conflicts follow one another masterfully. A true page-turner, combining visual spectacle with historical depth.”

Why am I writing ?

I have always felt a certain frustration when reading history books. They present facts, list the names of rulers and places, sometimes venture into geography, sociology, or other disciplines… yet they often leave the reader, as they left me, wanting more. One question haunted me: could we not make our forebears speak? Could we hear their voices, their doubts, their hopes, their vision of the world? Only one form seemed capable of answering that quest: the novel. It is a remarkable tool, one that allows us to express the characters’ doubts, their choices, to understand their situation, and to avoid imposing a historical outcome in hindsight. Yahya’s case struck me as particularly compelling for exploring the doubts and painful choices that confronted our ancestors.

But before embarking on such an undertaking, I had to prove equal to it. I had to read, document myself, study the stakes of the period. One must understand before imagining, absorb before creating. And then, it was not enough merely to reconstruct an era: one still had to give it flesh through living, inhabited, credible characters. This task, as exhilarating as it was ambitious, often seemed overwhelming to me. Like many first-time authors, I experienced impostor syndrome. But passion ultimately prevailed. With tenacity and selflessness, I set myself to this project

The encouraging responses of my first readers gave me the confidence to carry it through to the end. The first novel, I Will Give You Marrakech, is the opening volume of the trilogy. The second, The Wind Rises over Santa Cruz, plunges us into the emergence of the Zaydanid dynasty—those whom official history calls the Saadians;

But why were they called that? Probably to diminish them, to cast doubt on their status as sharifs, that is, descendants of the Prophet. By calling them Saadians, the implication was that they were merely the descendants of Saadia, the Prophet’s nurse. This name, laden with disqualifying intent, nevertheless endured in historical memory. As Nabil Mouline points out, it is time to restore their true name: the one they themselves used. After Yahya, the hero of the first book, the second novel turns to the figure of Mohammed ech-Cheikh, the sultan who succeeded in reunifying the country after a long period of turmoil. The third volume will attempt to turn into fiction the extraordinary destiny of Abdelmalik al-Mu’tassim, victor of the famous Battle of Oued el-Makhazine, also known as the Battle of the Three Kings.

My thanks to all those who choose to accompany me on this literary and historical journey.

Get in touch

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Who am I?

Who am I to speak about history? I am not a historian. I am a businessman—I co-founded two printing companies in Casablanca, Directprint and Flexoprint. For thirty years, I printed other people’s words. Then, four years ago, something changed. I felt the need to understand where I came from—truly understand it. Not the major dates we learn in school, but the stories we were never told. The erased faces. The forgotten name. I joined a group of people who share the same passion: Histoire Vivante du Maroc—men and women who believe our history deserves to be known, shared, and passed on. Together, we explore archives, exchange ideas, and bring forgotten stories back to lightAnd I started reading. Sixteenth-century Portuguese chronicles. Moroccan archives. History books. Novels. And there I found extraordinary figures—men and women no one talks about. It became clear to me that someone had to tell their stories. I became a writer out of necessity—and along the way, I discovered how much I loved to imagine. To invent situations, dialogues, scenes—so that readers might truly feel these characters, see them come alive, and understand the dilemmas they faced.And then there are the women. In the chronicles, they are almost invisible—mentioned in a few lines, sometimes reduced to a single name. But they were there. They lived through that history, endured it, and shaped it from the shadows. Part of my work as a writer is to give them back a voice, a face, and a place. I would be delighted to connect with readers like you—to share these stories and make this journey richer together.I am a graduate of Columbia Business School, where I earned my MBA. I began my career at Procter & Gamble before co-founding Directprint and Flexoprint with my business partner—two companies now firmly established in Casablanca’s printing industry.