Zadig Or, The Book of Fate

What It's About

Zadig is a young, wealthy, and virtuous man in ancient Babylon whose good sense and good fortune seem, at first, destined to bring him happiness. Instead, a chain of misfortunes—betrayal, imprisonment, exile, and narrow escapes from death—forces him from one identity and station to another as he wanders through Egypt, Arabia, and beyond. Along the way he crosses paths with philosophers, priests, robbers, and kings, each encounter testing his belief that virtue and reason are rewarded in this life.

Key Concepts

Written as a philosophical conte (tale), Zadig uses its hero's misadventures to interrogate whether the universe operates by a just, discernible order or by blind chance. Voltaire satirises religious intolerance, corrupt legal and political systems, and the fashionable optimism of his day—the notion that everything happens for the best. The tale's episodic, almost fable-like structure allows each incident to double as a self-contained moral or social commentary, a technique Voltaire would sharpen further in his later and more famous Candide.

About the Author

Voltaire, born François-Marie Arouet, was a French writer and philosopher and one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment. Known for his wit, his advocacy of civil liberties, and his relentless criticism of the Catholic Church and French institutions, he spent periods of his life in exile due to his writings. He was a prolific correspondent and public intellectual whose ideas on tolerance, reason, and freedom of expression influenced the political thought of his era.

About This Edition

This is a 1749 translation by John Brindley.