Rula Samain has written about many things as a journalist and an author, but her second book “Towards the Fourth Watch of the Night,” is about life and living with a different perspective.

This new approach to life was ironically triggered by the antonym of life. It was a near-death experience that brought her face-to-face with what life really means and how it should be lived.

She has shared that realization with an audience of intellectuals, religious leaders, artists, and journalists at the launch of her new book at the Sheraton Hotel in Amman, an event held under the patronage of HRH Princess Sanaa Assem.

Days ago, the author, who had published her first book “Fortress of Peace” 2017, a book available in Arabic and English about Jordan’s interfaith experience, was signing her latest book at the Amman Book Fair on Friday, October 1.

“Tough experiences tend to reshape our personalities,” Samain, a Jordan News columnist and reporter, said in remarks at the event. “Things will look clear afterwards, and our look at life, the universe and creation will change, drastically sometimes. I believe this is a blessing, not a curse.”

She went on to explain the title of her 177-page book, saying that the fourth watch of the night is the time “when light gets ready to shine before the roar of life … takes over.”

She went on to sum up every one of the eight chapters of the book, which talk about the secret of love, wisdom, democracy and freedom, humanity as a bond, unity as strength, the definition of happiness, peace, and God is love.

The author included comments by renowned figures, such as eminent poet Ali Fazzaa, writer and former culture minister Lana Mamkegh, and journalist Khaldoun Habashneh.

Panelists at the signing ceremony included economist and former Royal Court chief Jawad Al-Anani, former minister Yassera Ghousheh, and writer Kayed Al-Hashem.

Anani underlined the “mystic touch” in the book, praising Samain as a peace-loving person and a crusader for love among human beings, describing her style as “Jibranist”, after Lebanese-American writer Jibran Khalil Jibran, citing the evident spirituality in the text.

For her part, Ghousheh highlighted the author’s call for harmony in society, and her appreciation of life, respect, and love, as opposed to bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

Hashem said that regardless of the kind of writing and the genre, works like Samain’s reflect her soul and the kind of person she is.