Reviving a Digital Hakawati Culture: Platforms for Streaming and Downloading Arabic Audiobooks

The art of storytelling is a historical cultural cornerstone in the Arab World. And for (some) of us growing up - especially in the 80s when entire books would be read out on Egyptian radio - aural storytelling is a cultural comfort. Here are some of the best Arabic audiobook platforms to see you through those long days of homebound isolation… 

MIJOBOOKS: With high quality recordings, soothing sounds, and an aural backdrop of dramatic music, MijoBooks is an audiobook library rich with Arabic  and translated literature.

IQRAALY (@iqraalyapp on Instagram): An Egyptian app with subscription plans that give you unlimited access to Arabic audiobooks for you to download for an offline sesh.

ARABCAST (arabcast.org): Freely available in both website and app form, ArabCast streams over 5,000 audiobooks from a diverse range of contemporary authors and foreign writing translated to Arabic.

KITAB SAWTI: Swedish-based Kitab Sawti claims to have the world’s largest library of Arabic audiobooks, available via website and app.

BOOKLAVA: With new titles regularly released, Booklava is an Arabic literature haven - scan the app for classical favourites of Khalil Jibran read by professional voice actors, or even a self-narrated poetry collection by Ibrahim Nasrallah.

ALRAWI: A cultural platform and app that invites people to both listen to and create audiobooks, forming a community of authors, narrators and artists around it.

DHAD: The Saudi-based audiobook startup attracts a worldwide audience with its variety of titles, some free and some for purchase.

ESMA3 KITAAB: Sometimes, the best audiobook apps are the one created by bookworms with a passion to ignite the world of commercial Arabic audiobook production.

MASMOO3: With titles that are for free or for sale, Masmoo3’s Arabic audiobook experience transcend language with an app that streams world-renowned audiobooks.