Seven Hours in Hama

“That is it! We cannot wait anymore. We are going to Hama, this morning.” My mother stood facing both of us, my twin and I, helpless and without words. It was Tuesday 16 March, two weeks after Hafez al-Assad reopened the sealed city of Hama after he massacred around forty thousand people in February 1982. My mother had vetoed our decision to travel there several times before, and we had yielded to her wishes, but not today. Hama was our childhood city that we used to visit almost monthly after the ...

Al-Zahawi's Revolt in Hell (Part II)

  [This is part II of the translation. You can read the introduction and part I here and the original Arabic here.]            XVI.        Taking the dead down to hell   Jettisoned I was from the heavens, Two angels tugging my rope, Like a farmer with his cattle. Three times then, I was immersed in boiling tar, Thrown into the pit of hell,

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