Hiding behind the identity of a mysterious orientalist, a young American comes to Jabal al-Arab, moves between the villages of Suwayda, and then continues his journey to Latakia. To complete the threads of a miraculous story he heard and became a party to, let us read it partly from the pages of the orientalist’s memoirs, and hear it partly from the tongues of people who lived it.
The Jabal al-Arab region continues to generate stories that tell of the harshness of life, social injustice, and the tyranny of customs and traditions that strangle the fates of heroes. But just as there are “pashas” and “maraba’un” in the mountain, there are “pashas” and “peasants” in other places. With the conflict between all of these people, falling in love becomes an adventure with unknown consequences.
In his novel, Rabih Murshid delves deeply into the oral heritage of his environment, employing its myths, songs, and poems arranged within graceful and interesting narrative templates, to tell a love story between two people riding on horseback and trying to conquer fear by singing.
يبدأ المؤلف كتابه بعد المقدمة بعنوان (حياة الحب)، وخاطب فيه حبيبته، ومازج بين وصف الطبيعة بفصولها الأربعة؛ الربيع، الصيف، الخريف والشتاء، وبين تعبيره عن حبه لمحبوبته ورغبته في بقائها إلى جانبه، ويعدّ فن وصف الطبيعة واحداً من أشهر وأهم المواضيع الشعرية والنثرية، وجليّ في الكتاب أن استخدم الكاتب هذا الفن بطريقة غزلية، .
About the novel.....
Rashid is a twenty-year-old young man, an orphan of parents. He grows up in the care of his aunt in Dubai. After his aunt’s death, he decides to return to his father’s house in a village in Fujairah. He brings workers to restore the old house and gets to know his neighbors in the village, and the father, Abdullah, and his granddaughter, Maryam.
Voices and ghosts begin to appear from the wall of the house, and each of them tells a story related to Rashid’s parents. The ghosts continue to appear and tell their stories, and Rashid becomes immersed in these stories, until the whole truth comes together about the death of his parents, the fire on his father’s farm, and the location of the treasure that was stolen, and the novel ends with his discovery. For the location of the treasure that Maryam’s father recovered and hid in a safe place until he found it, Rashid also searches for the real Maryam and marries her.
