Ibrahim Mālik: The Man and His Selected Works

137 Pages·2012·2.018 MB·English

by  Ibrahim Mālik, Jamal Assadi

Assadi_Malik hardcover DD:NealArthur.qxd 12/2/2011 12:39 PM Page 1
P E T E R L A N G
A
Ibrahim Malik’s stories and imaginary dialogues with his soul, grand-
S
daughter, beloved, parents, historical figures, philosophers, politicians, S
A
invented friends, and made-up acquaintances offer a faithful picture of
D
the various plights, worries, anxieties, and threats suffered by the Arabs I
,

E
(belonging to what is paradoxically called the Israeli-Palestinian com-
d
munity) as well as by all of modern men. These dialogues often pre- .
a
n
sent complex and contradictory interactions between the old and the
d Ibrahim Malik

young, parents and children, lovers and sweethearts, politicians and peo- T
r
a
ple, philosophers and students, the real and the imaginary, reason and n
s
emotion, the usual and the absurd, peace and power, love and hatred, .
hopefulness and hopelessness, and reform and decay. Yet these con-
tradictory forces cooperate to fight for dignity, freedom, and justice.
Casual readers of this volume will enjoy stories from a different culture,
while scholars concerned with Arabic literature will discover new and
fertile fields for academic study.
I
b
“Hurrah to those who busy themselves introducing the literature of Pales-
r
a
tine to wider audiences in foreign languages. Their work is irrigation h
of the roots enabling the trees to grow and bear fruit.”—O. J. Odeh, im
English Department, An-Najah National University
M
a
JAMAL ASSADI is a lecturer at An-Najah National li
k
University, Nablus and chairs the English Department
at The Sakhnin College. He received his Ph.D. in
English literature from the University of Newcastle
Upon Tyne in England. In addition to numerous arti-
cles in professional journals, Dr. Assadi’s latest publi-
cations are Mustafa Murrar: “The Internal Pages” and Other Stories(2010);
Loud Sounds from the Holy Land: Short Fiction by Palestinian Women
THE MAN AND HIS SELECTED WORKS
(2011); and The Road to Self-Revival: Sufism, Heritage, Intertextuality and
Meta-Poetry in Modern Arabic Poetry (2011).
EDITED AND TRANSLA TED BY
P
E JAMAL ASSADI
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
S J
WITH ASSISTA NCE FROM IMON ACOBS

www.peterlang.com
Assadi_Malik hardcover DD:NealArthur.qxd 12/2/2011 12:39 PM Page 1
P E T E R L A N G
A
Ibrahim Malik’s stories and imaginary dialogues with his soul, grand-
S
daughter, beloved, parents, historical figures, philosophers, politicians, S
A
invented friends, and made-up acquaintances offer a faithful picture of
D
the various plights, worries, anxieties, and threats suffered by the Arabs I
,

E
(belonging to what is paradoxically called the Israeli-Palestinian com-
d
munity) as well as by all of modern men. These dialogues often pre- .
a
n
sent complex and contradictory interactions between the old and the
d Ibrahim Malik

young, parents and children, lovers and sweethearts, politicians and peo- T
r
a
ple, philosophers and students, the real and the imaginary, reason and n
s
emotion, the usual and the absurd, peace and power, love and hatred, .
hopefulness and hopelessness, and reform and decay. Yet these con-
tradictory forces cooperate to fight for dignity, freedom, and justice.
Casual readers of this volume will enjoy stories from a different culture,
while scholars concerned with Arabic literature will discover new and
fertile fields for academic study.
I
b
“Hurrah to those who busy themselves introducing the literature of Pales-
r
a
tine to wider audiences in foreign languages. Their work is irrigation h
of the roots enabling the trees to grow and bear fruit.”—O. J. Odeh, im
English Department, An-Najah National University
M
a
JAMAL ASSADI is a lecturer at An-Najah National li
k
University, Nablus and chairs the English Department
at The Sakhnin College. He received his Ph.D. in
English literature from the University of Newcastle
Upon Tyne in England. In addition to numerous arti-
cles in professional journals, Dr. Assadi’s latest publi-
cations are Mustafa Murrar: “The Internal Pages” and Other Stories(2010);
Loud Sounds from the Holy Land: Short Fiction by Palestinian Women
THE MAN AND HIS SELECTED WORKS
(2011); and The Road to Self-Revival: Sufism, Heritage, Intertextuality and
Meta-Poetry in Modern Arabic Poetry (2011).
EDITED AND TRANSLA TED BY
P
E JAMAL ASSADI
T
E
R
L
A
N
G
WITH ASSISTANCE FROM SIMON JACOBS

www.peterlang.com

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
THE MAN AND HIS SELECTED WORKS

Edited and Translated by
Jamal Assadi
with Assistance from Simon Jacobs

PETER LANG
New York (cid:121) Washington, D.C./Baltimore (cid:121) Bern
Frankfurt (cid:121) Berlin (cid:121) Brussels (cid:121) Vienna (cid:121) Oxford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mālik, Ibrahim, 1942–
[Selections. English. 2012]
Ibrahim Mālik: the man and his selected works /
translated and edited by Jamal Assadi with assistance from Simon Jacobs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Assadi, Jamal. II. Jacobs, Simon. III. Title.
PJ7946.A455A2 892.7’36—dc23 2011047734
ISBN 978-1-4331-1604-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-0551-7 (e-book)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the ‘‘Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie’’; detailed bibliographic data is available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

The author extends special thanks to An-Najah National University.

Cover image of the remnants of the railway station of destroyed Samach,
prepared by Kamil Shaer.

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council of Library Resources.

© 2012 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.

Printed in Germany
To My Wife, Dalia

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assadi_malik.indd 6 14/11/11 10:57 AM
Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Part One
Dīnā and I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
He Looks for Satan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Nāfi’ Thinks That He Had a Nightmare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
‘Abdullāh and I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
The Memory of Pain and Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
The Sight Ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
The Tragedy of War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
Bodies in the Butchers’ Stores of Baghdad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
The United Nations’ Commissioner to Gaza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
The Most Difficult Event I Have Ever Seen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
My Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
Halt for a Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
The Comer from the South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
We Need a Lighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
The End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

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viii Contents
Part twO
The Crocodile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
The She-Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
The Priest of the Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
The Conscience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
The Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Maḥmūd Aṭṭāha Dances All Day Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Part three
My Granddaughter, Lina, and the Dinosaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
The Jar and the Colorful Fish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
The Good Grandpa: Santa Claus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107
The Story of a Goose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Part FOur
The Mat, the Homeland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
The Mat, the Rabābah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
The Mat, the Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
How Much I Wished! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
A Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Oh, Most Beautiful Woman! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Oh Aragón! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
The Aroma of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
How Beautiful Life Is! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
The Smashed Jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
The Pleasure of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
That Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
I Crave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
In Me There Is a Thirst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Oh, Bird of Swallows! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

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