The Harafish Read Online Free PDF

Zaynab.”
    She rested her head in the palm of her hand and said miserably, “I’ve got to work early in the morning.”
    “Try to sleep.”
    “On a night like this!”
    “Whenever you want then!” he said in exasperation.
    “What about you?”
    “What I need is a breath of fresh air.”
    21 .
    The darkness again. Haunting the archway. Hiding beggars and tramps. Humming with silence. Embracing angels and demons. Night where the troubled man goes to escape his obsessions, only to become submerged in them. If fear can seep through the pores of these walls, then deliverance is a joke.
    22 .
    He emerged from the archway into the little square. He found himself alone with the chanting from the monastery, the ancient wall, and the star-studded sky. He squatted with his head between his knees. More than forty years ago someone had crept along and hidden him in the darkness here. How and where had the sin been committed? What were the circumstances? Was he the only victim? Try to imagine your mother’s dreamy face and your father’s, inflamed with passion. Imagine the honeyed phrases of seduction, and the moment when your fate was decided. There’s an angel and a devil standing beside them but desire is defeating the angel. What does your mother look like? Perhaps like…To arouse such a conflict she must have had clear skin, dark eyes outlined with kohl, delicate features like flowers opening, a slender, magical body, and a gentle voice. And underlying all that there must have been this hidden, blind-rushing, treacherous, rapacious energy, without scruples, admirably suited to its purpose.
    An enticing bait lying in wait while fate looked on expectantly.
    Fifteen years of a man’s life put paid to in an instant.
    He knocked at the monastery door, but it remained closed. He could have forced it easily enough, but he had no desire to. A manwedded to life may as well embrace its children, perfumed with lust. But he was forced to admit that what was happening was hard to believe, and suffer the feelings of a runaway who had finally been trapped. Laughter and tears are equally the stuff of fate. He was a new creature now, plagued by blind desires, madness, and remorse. He begged help from the Almighty, and the wine of temptation flowed through his veins.
    His head grew heavy and he drifted into unconsciousness.
    He saw Sheikh Afra Zaydan standing before his grave. He took Ashur in his arms.
    “Are you taking me into the grave, my lord?” asked Ashur uneasily.
    But he carried him along the path, across the square, and under the archway.
    Something woke Ashur. He opened his eyes and heard Zaynab saying, “Just as I thought. Are you going to sleep here till morning?”
    He jumped up in fright, gave her his hand, and the two of them went off in silence.
    23 .
    Suddenly his huge frame filled the doorway. The drinkers’ heavy eyelids flickered and behind their clouded eyes silent questions were exchanged:
    “What’s he come back for?”
    “Is he chasing his sons?”
    “Don’t expect any good to come out of it!”
    He swept his eyes around the place and found a space on the left-hand side of the bar. He crossed over and dropped onto his haunches, acting casually to cover his embarrassment.
    Darwish hurried up to him. “Nice to see you.” He smiled. “Who would have thought it!”
    Ashur ignored him entirely. Fulla came over with a calabash and a paper cone of spiced lupin seeds. He lowered his eyelids and remembered the story of the flood. Then he pushed the calabash aside and paid for the drink without a word.
    Darwish began to look at him strangely. “We’re here to get you whatever it is you want,” he whispered and left him on his own.
    The other customers quickly disregarded him. Fulla wondered what made him keep off drink. She went up to him again and gestured toward the untouched calabash. “It’s really good,” she said encouragingly.
    He inclined his head as if to thank her.
    “I’d keep out of his