Kalila Wa-Dimna Bookshop

For those in love with literature

For all those passionate about literature and rare books, the Kalila Wa-Dimna Bookshop is an essential port of call while staying in Rabat. Curiously enough, the bookshop gets its name from a mythical Arabic fable from the eighteenth century – itself inspired by Hindu texts from the third century – which King Alfonso X, “the Wise”, ordered to be translated in the eighteenth century, and such is how this moral tale reached the shores of Spain. Indeed, the bookshop in Rabat very much retains these pedagogical roots, stocking texts not only of traditional Moroccan literature, but equally the very best of contemporary authors and international bestsellers, both Arabic and French alike. Another of its strong points is the independent literature that you simply won’t find at other bookshops, not to mention the section dedicated to science and technology. The opening hours are Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.