Malba Tahan

Malba Tahan, full name Ali Yezzid Izz-Edin ibn-Salim Hanak Malba Tahan, was a fictitious Persian scholar. He was the creation and frequent pen name of Brazilian author Júlio César de Mello e Souza.

According to the dedication and introductory chapters of The Man Who Counted (ostensibly written in the month of Ramadan in the year of the Hijrah 1321, corresponding to November 1903), Malba Tahan was a native and well-connected resident of Baghdad, a sharif (a descendant of Caliph Ali Ibn Abi Talib), and a hajj (a Muslim who made the pilgrimage to Mecca). In the year of the Hijrah 1255 1839, Malba Tahan moved to Constantinople with his lifelong friend Beremiz Samir, the namesake of Malba's book The Man Who Counted.