Night of the Golden Butterfly (The Islam Quintet)
Pakistan

Night of the Golden Butterfly (The Islam Quintet)

by Tariq Ali

Society & Class Historical Fiction Literary Fiction 2026

Summary

Moving between Lahore, London, Paris, and Beijing, Tariq Ali’s Night of the Golden Butterfly explores friendship, love, political disillusionment, and the changing identity of Pakistan. The story follows Dara, a writer living in London, who is asked by his old friend Mohammed Aflatun—nicknamed Plato, an eccentric and gifted painter—to write the story of his life. As Dara reconnects with people from his past, old romances and long-buried memories resurface, revealing the complicated relationships that bind their lives together.

Alongside this contemporary narrative, the novel reaches back into Chinese-Muslim history through the family of Jindie, Dara’s first love. Blending satire, personal recollection, and historical storytelling, Ali examines the tensions between East and West, the effects of political power and religious fundamentalism, and the struggles of a society confronting its own contradictions. The novel is the fifth and final volume of The Islam Quintet.

Reviews

Login to leave a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first!

You might also like

The Museum Detective
The Museum Detective
Maha Khan Phillips
Street Fighting Years
Street Fighting Years
Tariq Ali
You Can’t Please All
You Can’t Please All
Tariq Ali
Under the Full and Crescent Moon
Under the Full and Crescent Moon
Aamir Hussain
Country
Pakistan
Asia
About the author
Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali

Tariq Ali is a British-Pakistani writer, historian, filmmaker, and political commentator born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1943. He studied at the University of Punjab before moving to Britain, where he became involved in student activism and political movements during the 1960s. He is a longtime editor of New Left Review and has written extensively on history, politics, imperialism, and international affairs. Ali is the author of numerous nonfiction books, including The Clash of Fundamentalisms and The Duel, as well as plays, screenplays, and novels. Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree is the first novel in his Islam Quintet, a series of historical novels exploring encounters and conflicts between Muslim and Western societies across different periods. His historical fiction frequently revisits overlooked perspectives and challenges dominant narratives about religion, empire, and cultural identity. Through his writing, Ali examines how political power shapes historical memory and how communities struggle to preserve their cultural heritage in the aftermath of conquest.

View author page
Details
Published
2026
Author
Tariq Ali