Arabic literature can be translated inasmuch as it has to be translated. Why? Because the reality Arabs encounter stretches beyond the Arab World, and thus does not fit the orderly context the Arabic language requires to keep on being as categorical as it has been for centuries.
The price a nation has to pay for boasting a language carved in stone is the cumbersomeness of its notions. But first, before Arabs face the Sphinx, they have to make sure they recognize both their mother tongue and their fatherland. We are just here to provide a space where they can shelve their paralysis by putting their stances into perspective.
Contemporary Arabic Literature, translated into English
The sun shone, announcing the beginning of a brand new day. The ashtray was crammed with cigarette butts. He performed his ablutions and proceeded with the prayer. He closed his eyes in order to wake up to the sound of the Muslim nation, which, in a gesture of motherly love, flung its arms around him […]
I haven’t heard from you for a whole month. I fear you might never come back to me again. Your phone is off, and you are not answering my messages. Even though it is still way too early and I risk waking my mother up, I call her on the phone to ask whether she […]
Second prize holder of the “One Thousand Nights and Awakening” literary contest I didn’t know the bus was going to drive by Abbassiyyin Square. I had been trying to avoid the square for the past two years, but the elderly driver had decided to round it, heedless of the anguish it might cause passengers to […]
Lama was a very smart and curious nine-year-old girl, who despite her age was very cultured and knowledgeable about the world. Lately, the religious channels she watched on TV had been mentioning the word “humanity,” mostly apropos of charity work. She had also read the word on Facebook. It had been brought up in association […]
