WHEN Orhan was a child, not yet 10 years old, he used to imagine God as a woman ravaged with age, draped in white scarves.

Whenever this specter appeared before me, I felt a powerful, sublime and exalted presence, but surprisingly little fear, Orhan writes in Istanbul (the English translation was published in 2005). I dont remember ever asking for Her help or guidance. I was only too aware that She was not interested in people like me: She cared o