The governor called him, smiling, “Answer her Mazen, answer.”
Mazen moved closer to the window and said with frustration, “Yes, aunt, your orders?”
She said angrily, “I don’t understand, both of you are important people in the country and you’re unable to talk to them? Talk to them in English.”
The governor said, defending his position, “Believe me, I tried, didn’t you see me?”
She replied angrily, “I want results, not efforts. Try again, a second time. My daughter has delivered a baby and is bleeding heavily, she might die while you are sitting here telling stories and talking nonsense. Don’t you know English?”
The governor smiled and said, politely, “No, I don’t.”
She said dryly, “How did you talk with them, then? You said you’ve tried, what language did you use? And you Mazen, do you know how to talk to them?”
Mazen replied, weary and embarrassed, “Of course, I do.”
“In what language?” she asked.
“I know a little English and Russian. But they understand our Arabic. It’s not a question of language however, the fact is that they’re upset.”
She grumbled angrily, “By God! Aren’t we all upset? My daughter is about to die and they don’t want me to be upset?”
She then turned to her daughter and shook her by the shoulder saying, “Futna, Futna, get up dear. I think that we should step out and talk with them. Open the door.”
Mazen hesitated and said in a low voice, “No aunt, what are you saying?”
She replied, firmly, “Open the door I tell you. Do you think that I’m not able to talk to them? I know French and English and also a little German. I can talk eloquently and say words that would make anyone proud. I can make them listen to me and respect me. Go ahead, open up.”
He lowered his voice even more, saying, “Sitt Amira, the Israelis do not acknowledge anyone, listen to anybody, or respect anyone, have you forgotten that?”
She said stubbornly, “No, I haven’t forgotten, neither have I forgotten that I am Amira the daughter of Shayib, whose father fought with the revolutionaries against the British, and whose grandfather protected the Aqsa Mosque. Are you trying to intimidate me with a bunch of soldiers gathered from all over the world? I can’t sit still while my daughter is dying before my eyes. Go ahead, open up, open up I tell you.”
She then turned to her daughter and shook her, “Get up Futna, get up my daughter, let them see what we can do. One knows no English and the other is afraid of the soldiers. Get up daughter, get up sweetheart.”
But Futna didn’t move, throwing her mother in a state of panic. She shouted, “Futna get up. Futna! Futna!”
Mazen rushed to the back of the car and opened the door, but Futna had gone to her Creator while they were arguing.
Two soldiers moved toward Mazen and the ambulance, pointing their weapons and shouting, “Stop, stop!”
One of the two soldiers hit him on the head with the handle of the machine gun, causing him to fall to the ground. The baby woke up and cried as they shouted. The grandmother looked at the soldiers, then at her daughter, and when the floodlights shined on her, her eyes were glassy and tearless. The soldiers shouted again and the baby cried. One of them said pointing the machine gun at her, “I said stop.”
She said, calmly, “Alright, alright.”
She then handed them the crying baby, and said calmly and proudly, in English: “Thank you very much, this is your share.”
My uncle drove me to the airport and said, reproachfully, “It isn’t acceptable that you’re going away and leaving us.”
I wiped away my tears for the first time in many years; I had recovered my ability to feel. I said affectionately, “I’ll be back, I’ll return, by God I will.”
He said in guise of a reminder, “And your little brother, for whom arc you leaving him?”
I said, a little embarrassed, “You and Amira are up to the responsibility.” He said, hoping to influence my decision, “Although the inheritance of the boy is double that of the girl, your part will be saved for you.”
I shook my head without commenting, and I walked toward the plane.
GLOSSARY
adhan: the call to prayer.
Amanch ya Layl: ‘I trust you, O night!’ part of the mawwal, a sung colloquial Arabic poem.
‘Antar and ‘Abla: a famous couple from the pre-Islamic period. The poet Antar declared his love to his cousin Abla in memorable poems.
araq: known as ‘uzzo’ in the West. An alcoholic drink made from raisins.
al-Atlal: literally ‘the ruins;’ the tide of a famous song interpreted by the well-known Egyptian singer, Umm Kalthum.
Avicenna: Western name for the Muslim philosopher Ibn Sina (980-1037).
awwameh: a type of Arab sweet, similar to doughnuts.
Bab al-Khalil: one of the gates of the old city in East Jerusalem.
balouza: a milk custard.
Bilal the Stupid: the author may be deliberately recalling the name ‘Bilal,’ the name of a historical figure, the freed black slave, a convert to Islam, who was the first person to make the call to prayers, the adhan.
bisarah: Egyptian dish made of ground fava beans, onions, and garlic, with appropriate spices.
bushnaq: a term used to refer to someone who is fair-skinned and good-looking; from the name of a family, ‘Bushnaq,’ that emigrated from Bosnia to Palestine and Jordan in the late nineteenth century.
dabkeh: a Levantine folk dance.
dhikr: prayers consisting of the invocation of God’s name.
diwan: gathering place for either formal or informal meetings.
dunum: a measure of land. One dunum is equal to 1,000 square meters.
Eliya Abu Madi: twentieth-century Lebanese poet (1894-1957), a member of the Mahjar school established by the immigrant poets in New York, and made famous by Khalil Gibran.
Fairuz: Contemporary female Lebanese singer, born in 1935, popular throughout the Arab world.
falafel: deep fried bean cakes made with broad beans, herbs, sesame seeds, and spices.
al-Falaq, al-Kursi, and Yasin: titles of chapters (suras) in the Qur’an.
far/nar/tar: the phonetic similarity between far (‘rat’), nar (‘fire’)and tar (‘revenge’) is very close and justifies the confusion of the three words.
al-Fatiha: the opening chapter (sura) in the Qur’an.
fidai: freedom or guerilla fighter.
ful: specially cooked fava beans eaten for breakfast.
Georgina Rizk: Lebanese winner of the 1971 Miss Universe beauty contest (b. 1943).
ha’ (haq): the colloquial Palestinian word for a (legal or moral) right, also meaning ‘price’ or ‘cost.’ Hence the play on words in the novel.
hajj/hajjeh: term used to refer to or directly address men and women who have performed the pilgrimage to Mecca.
al-Hamd: the opening word of the Fatiha, the first chapter (sura) in the Qur’an.
al-Haram al-Sharif: name used to refer to the compound that includes both the Dome of the Rock mosque and the Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem.
Haykal, Muhammad Hasanayn: well know Egyptian political journalist, writer, and editor, who served as editor-in-chief of the Egyptian daily newspaper, al-Ahram, and later served as adviser to, and was a close confidant of Gamal Abd al-Nasser. Also the author of numerous books about Egyptian politics (b. 1923).
ka‘ek: pretzel-like bread, covered with sesame seeds and eaten with either za’tar, cheese, or hard boiled eggs.
Khaled Muhammad Khaled: contemporary Egyptian intellectual and journalist.
khatma: recitation of the entire Qur’an for a specific intention.
kirdan: a large necklace, part of country women’s jewelry.
knafeh: dough shaped like shredded wheat, stuffed with walnuts or sweet cheese, and baked in syrup and melted butter.
kufiyeh: a long scarf worn under the ‘i’qal as a headdress; also a black and white checkered scarf used b
y Palestinians as a national symbol.
al-Ma‘arri, Abu al-’Ala’: blind poet (973-1057) of the Abbasid period.
madhahib: schools of Islamic jurisprudence or law.
mahaleb: a kind of cheese, made from goat’s milk.
Makhfiyeh: residential, middle-class neighborhood located on the mountain of Jersim, in Nablus.
mansaf: a dish of rice, meat, and yogurt.
maramiyeh: verbena.
mashallah: literally ‘what God wills;’ an expression uttered as an expression of appreciation for God’s gifts. Also a piece of gold jewelry worn as a trinket on a chain around the neck as a means of protection.
mawwal: see Amaneh ya Layl above.
msakhkhan: a traditional Palestinian dish of chicken, onions, sumac, and olive oil. Eaten with thin country bread.
mulukhiya: pronounced ‘mlukhiyeh’ by Palestinians, a thick soup-sauce made of Jew’s mallow, especially prized in Egypt.
Musrareh: a neighborhood in West Jerusalem.
Muwashshah: a stanzaic Arabic poem put to music and sung.
al-Nakba: ‘catastrophe;’ the name that Palestinians use to describe the events surrounding the loss of their homeland in 1948. The year of the creation of the State of Israel, 1948 is seen by Palestinians as a disastrous year in their history, turning them into a refugee people.
Nizar Qabbani: modern Syrian poet and diplomat, famous for his love poems (1923-98).
owl: the sight of an owl is a bad omen in Arab tradition.
Qays wa Layla: proverbial couple famous for their platonic love, which Qays ibn al-Mulawah, an Umayyad poet, described in his poetry.
qazha: nigella seeds. Pronounced ‘azha’ in colloquial Palestinian. The seeds are highly prized for their medicinal value and taste-enhancing effect. Often sprinkled on goat’s cheese.
qirat: carat, a gold weight measure.
al-Ram, al-Tireh, and Abu Dees: Palestinian villages close to Jerusalem.
Rose al-Yusuf: a late-nineteenth-century female Egyptian journalist. She founded a weekly magazine that carries her name and is published to the present day.
salam: an Arabic word of greeting meaning ‘peace.’
shalom: a Hebrew word of greeting meaning ‘peace.’
shari’a: Islamic law.
al-Shatir Hassan: a hero of Egyptian folk tales who carries off great feats of cunning and bravery.
shawirma: slow-roasted meat or chicken.
shubbayk, lubbayk: magical terms equivalent to the familiar magical expression, Abracadabra. ‘Lubbayk’ is derived from the verb labbayka’ meaning Ï am at your service.’
Sidna’l-Sheikh: term of respect used to address an Imam, a man in charge of religious duties in a mosque.
sitt: Term of address meaning ‘Mrs.’ or ‘lady.’
sukkar qalil: ‘small amount of sugar.’
Sunna: the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the sources of the Shari’a law.
tabbouleh: Levantine salad consisting of burgul, parsley, tomatoes, and onions.
tabliyeh: a traditional low round table, which requires people to sit on the floor when eating around it.
tala‘a al-badru: literally, ‘the full moon has appeared,’ the title of a religious song referring to the Prophet Muhmmad, sung by Umm Kulthum.
tarawih: nightly prayers carried out during the month of Ramadan.
tamriyeh: Arabic sweet made of flour and clarified butter and sweetened with a sugar syrup.
tarbush: a fez.
Umm Kulthum: iconic twentieth-century female Egyptian singer, arguably the most famous in the Arab world (1904-75).
‘umra: The name given to the lesser pilgrimage in Islam. The greater pilgrimage is called the Haj.
Wadi al-Joz: a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.
Wadi al-Rihan: literally ‘the valley of basil;’ an imaginary location in Palestine.
waqf: plural awqaf. A form of religious endowment in Islam, assigned only for charitable use.
ya: familiar vocative, equivalent in meaning to ‘hey,’ in English. It is also an exclamatory particle.
za‘tar: powder consisting of dried thyme leaves, salt, sumac, and sesame seeds, eaten, usually for breakfast, with bread dipped in olive oil.
zunud al-sitt: a type of Arab sweet.
Modern Arabic Literature
from the American University in Cairo Press
Ibrahim Abdel Meguid The Other Place
No One Sleeps in Alexandria • Birds of Amber
Yahya Taher Abdullah The Mountain of Green Tea
Leila Abouzeid The Last Chapter
Ibrahim Asian Nile Sparrows • The Heron
Alaa AI Aswany The Yacoubian Building
Hala El Badry A Certain Woman
Salwa Bakr The Wiles of Men
Hoda Barakat The Tiller of Waters
Mound Barghouti I Saw Ramallah
Mohamed El-Bisatie A Last Glass of Tea
Houses Behind the Trees • Clamor of the L
Fathy Ghanem The Man Who Lost His Shadow
Randa Ghazy Dreaming of Palestine
Gamal al-Ghitani Zayni Barakat
Tawfiq al-Hakim The Prison of Life
Yahya Hakki The Lamp of Umm Hashim
Bensalem Himmich The Polymath • The Theocrat
Taha Hussein A Man of Letters • The Sufferers • The Days
Sonallah Ibrahim Cairo: From Edge to Edge • Zaat • The Committee
Yusuf Idris City of Love and Ashes
Denys Johnson-Davies Under the Naked Sky: Short Stories
from the Arab World
Said al-Kafrawi The Hill of Gypsies
Sahar Khalifeh The Inheritance
Edwar al-Kharrat Rama and the Dragon • Stones of Bobello
Betool Khedairi • Absent
Ibrahim al-Koni Anubis
Naguib Mahfouz Adrift on the Nile • Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth
Arabian Nights and Days • Autumn Quail
The Beggar • The Beginning and the End
The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar street
Children of the Alley • The Day the leader Was Killed • The Dreams
Echoes of an Autobiography • The Harafish
The Journey of Ibn Fattouma •· Khufu’s Wisdom
Midaq Alley • Miramar • Naguib Mabfouz at Sidi Gaber
Respected Sir • Rhadopis of Nubia • The Search • The Seventh Heaven
Thebes at War • The Thief and the Dogs • The Time and the Place
Wedding Song ·• Voices from the Other World
Selim Matar The Woman of the Flask
Ahlam Mosteghanemi Memory in the Flesh • Chaos of the Senses
Buthaina AI Nasiri Final Night
Haggag Hassan Oddoul Nights of Musk
Abd al-Hakim Qasim Rites of Assent
Somaya Ramadan Leaves of Narcissus
Lenin El-Ramly In Plain Arabic
Ghada Samman The Night of the First Billion
Rafik Schami Damascus Nights
Miral al-Tahawy The Tent • Blue Aubergine
Bahaa Taher Love in Exile
Fuad al-Takarli The Long Way Back
Latifa al-Zayyat The Open Door
The Inheritance Page 30
