Quotes from "The Smiles of The Saints"

Quotes from

 "The Smiles of The Saints"

By Ibrahim Farghali

Translated by: Andy Smart, Nadia Foda Smart

Your silent sobbing tore me apart Nadia, as you drove along Talaat Harb Street on your way to kidney center beside the university. You stopped crying only for few moments as you entered the elegant hospital entrance but it began again immediately afterward. No amount of tissues could coup with your tears.

What stopped you was the emergency call to go to the operating theater. I may be the only one who knows what goes on in your heart. That awful silence that you know now after those long years of inner roaring, created by his thoughts, has left you with nostalgia… Now what will you do?

p

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After the dramatic death of Sadat there was not a bearded to be seen. For my part I stayed at home most of the time like my companions – the Brothers- who were in the process of organizing themselves. Was this the outcome of those two whole years of indoctrination, those weekly sermons meetings, and retreats where they had made us repeat after them, passionate for the dominion of Allah and passing of the tyrant? Had they known all along the timing of the operation or were they just as surprised as we were by the dramatic events?

I stopped asking questions and gave up going to mosque, making do with praying at home. I felt it was the end of that chapter in my life. P39

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Break time in el Malik el Salih Preparatory School was the ideal time to stand on the concrete ledge that supported the railings in the middle of the school wall facing the great Iron Gate. From there, with my back to soccer players and their supporters, I had the opportunity to watch the girls in the dormitory of the Greek School opposite- slim, blond girls that exited my imagination. On one occasion while I was standing there on the ledge, I saw her as she was undressing, unaware of the open window or of my presence while I, in a fleeting whose image was to remain with me for a large part of my life, was conscious of her naked. But from where I am can see only her tender shoulders, the upper part of her back, and her tiny breasts that are visible only in those moments when she raises her arms before dropping them quickly, as she covers herself up, shutting off the view that shock my soul, taken my breath away, and unsettled me for so long. P48

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May be I was the fastest, Nadia. But I ran alone, racked with pain. I was accompanied by an imprecation and a vow and by prayers for Christmas and Easter. All in vain. Now I'm just a ghost seen by no one, with no trace even of Rami or Christine. Here in front of me stands Haneen, their daughter, a clear symbol of the irrational lives you all live, Nadia.. while you tell her stories that have almost been wiped from my memory by the force of the pain.