大象传媒

Journalist Abdul-Rehman Malik explores the nature and purpose of true friendship through the insights of writers from varied faith traditions.

He examines what the Scottish theologian Hugh Black calls the "limits of friendship", the idea that there is in each one of us a private world that no-one can inhabit. CS Lewis describes a very English type of friendship, reserved yet revealing - we can survive without it, Lewis writes, but life is so much better with it.

Running through the programme is a story by the 13th century Persian poet Farid ud-Din Attar about Shaykh Sanan, whose infatuation with a Christian girl has an enormous impact on his friends and disciples. There is poetry from Rabindranath Tagore and a story from the Quran that explains why we are especially drawn to some people and not others.

The music included in the programme, from artists as diverse as Eric Clapton and Georges Bizet, illustrates how friendship can survive despite turbulent times.

Presenter: Abdul-Rehman Malik
Producer: Jonathan Mayo
A TBI Media production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.