Lokman Slim was born in Haret Hreik (near Beirut) in 1962 and lived there until 1982 when he went to study at the Sorbonne in France. He returned to Beirut in 1988. Two years later, he founded the Dar al Jadeed Publishing House, which publishes Arabic literature and essays with a controversial content. His publications range from books banned by the General Security of Lebanon to the first Arabic translations of the writings of Muhammad Khatami, the former Iranian reformist president, which caused controversy within the Shiite community in Lebanon. Slim’s various articles, essays and translations have been published in newspapers and books in English, French and Arabic.