{"id":27919,"date":"2023-08-28T09:19:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T07:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=27919"},"modified":"2023-08-28T09:20:07","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T07:20:07","slug":"tainted-fiction-from-may-haddad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/tainted-fiction-from-may-haddad\/","title":{"rendered":"“Tainted”\u2014fiction from May Haddad"},"content":{"rendered":"
A conversation reveals the fault lines between the generations \u2014 an older one, which clings to traditional beliefs, and a younger one, suspicious of ancient custom and its ability to solve the pressing crisis of the modern-day.<\/span><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

May Haddad<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

The cold night had stretched on for longer than anyone in the lone cottage could remember. Windows had been bolted up with whatever the family could get their hands on, and every single hole and crack in the makeshift roof was carefully blocked off with leftover pots and pans. Those who believed it was better to sleep through the whole affair, retired early, hoping rest would ease their minds, but they found little comfort in the straw beds and animal-skin pillows they now had to get accustomed to.<\/span><\/p>\n

This left Umm Kamila and her granddaughter, Nahla, by themselves in the parlor \u2014 the former humming the hymns she could recollect from a childhood that felt so long ago, and the latter fidgeting with a contraption she had found in the last scavenge with the children of the other families stranded in that village. Neither seemed to have much to say to the other in the hours that had passed in shared solitude, and this is how they would have carried on as the storm raged had Nahla not finally tired of playing with the broken gears that once seemed to captivate her. Instead, she walked over to her grandmother seated on a cushion of old clothes by the fire dying in the hearth and, without saying a word, lay down in her lap as she used to when she was younger. Now staring out the window that was facing them, Nahla started to ponder the world around her \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeta,\u201d Nahla said, ending the silence that had subdued them that night. \u201cI was wondering \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, <\/span>habibiti<\/span><\/i>,\u201d Umm Kamila replied, ruffling gently through her hair. \u201cWhat is it you want to ask?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf our world is suspended in space \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila raised an eyebrow. \u201cYes?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 what\u2019s to keep it from falling into the abyss?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, my,\u201d Umm Kamila chuckled, extending her arms out to the heavens. \u201cWhy, an angel, of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla\u2019s eyes widened with excitement. \u201cAn angel?!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, an angel that shoulders the world with its magnificent wings.\u201d Umm Kamila now spread her arms. \u201cWings that span the Earth from pole to pole!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla rose from her grandmother\u2019s lap.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what does this angel stand on?\u201d She asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis angel stands on a slab,\u201d Umm Kamila responded as she hovered her hands in the air horizontally. \u201cA slab of the finest gemstone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA slab of gemstone?\u201d Nahla wasn\u2019t sure what to make of this. An angel seemed natural enough, logical even from what she had been told of them prior, but the colored rocks she often tossed aside while scavenging held no such luster in her mind. \u201cIs there a reason it stands on gemstone, in particular, Teta? Wouldn\u2019t steel be sturdier?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not for me to answer.\u201d Umm Kamila smiled. But, for once, it seemed forced, strained even. \u201cDon\u2019t you want to know what supports the slab?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla, who still wanted an answer to her prior question, nodded. \u201cWhat supports the slab?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila moved her hand so that the back brushed against her lip, and her fingers seemed to protrude out of her like some strange appendage.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKuyutha*, of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKu-yu-tha?\u201d Nahla tried to pronounce the name, but it felt foreign to her tongue \u2014 as if it was from another culture she couldn’t understand. \u201cKuyutha.\u201d She muttered again, and picking up on her granddaughter\u2019s perplexion, Umm Kamila feigned shock.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know of Kuyutha?!\u201d she exclaimed, then leaned over to tear off a cog from a rusted machine and tossed it into the fire. \u201cNow, where were we? You don\u2019t know of Kuyutha!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Teta.\u201d Nahla shook her head with a look of embarrassment. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy child.\u201d A zeal was now palpable in the old woman\u2019s voice. \u201cKuyutha is the cosmic beast with 40,000 horns and 40,000 legs and as many eyes, ears, mouths, and tongues!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForty-thousand horns, legs, eyes, ears, mouths, and tongues?\u201d Nahla’s voice shook with unease. \u201cHow tall is it, Teta?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila raised her hand as far as she could.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kuyutha\u2019s horns are said to reach the Throne of God itself, entangling it like a crown of thorns.\u201d She then flailed her arms about, losing herself in the wonder of it all. \u201cIts nose is in our seas, the two nostrils pinned against holes in the slab of gemstone, enabling it to breathe, and when it breathes once a day \u2014 the seas rise and ebb!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila then arched her back, praising God in all His majesty, as the thunder outside suddenly sounded so much louder to Nahla. Strange thoughts coursed through her young mind \u2014 so wild was the image she had conjured that she felt shaken by the sheer madness of it all. To think that the world around her could be filled with such\u2026 marvel \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes Kuyutha alone carry us?\u201d she finally dared to ask, her curiosity getting the best of her again.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Bahamut, or the Salt of the Earth<\/a><\/h4>\n
\n


\n\u201cNo <\/span>habibiti<\/span><\/i>, Kuyutha is carried by the Bahamut<\/a>, and before you ask …\u201d Umm Kamila chuckled again with an eye on the storm outside. \u201c… the Bahamut itself is suspended in endless water for its own stability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if Kuyutha is so big, how can the Bahamut carry it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila pinched Nahla\u2019s nose.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe seas of the world, placed in one of that fish’s nostrils, would be but a heap of sand in the desert. That\u2019s how on its back, it can carry a beast, an angel, and the rest of the universe, including six hells, the earth, and the heavens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2026\u201d Nahla was at a loss for words. \u201cWhy would God create all this?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNahla, before this, the earth tossed and turned without rhyme or reason,\u201d Umm Kamila avowed, thanking God silently, then gazed down at her granddaughter, who seemed transfixed by whatever was happening outside those windows. \u201cLike all of his creations, these creatures were gifted to us by God to bring us peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeace?\u201d Nahla glanced up at her grandmother wearily. \u201cHow?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do they stabilize our world, but when they quench their thirst with our seas, they hinder the rising tide and prevent our world from drowning in its own waters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy God \u2026\u201d Nahla whispered to herself, for she could say nothing else.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGod is great.\u201d Umm Kamila nodded in affirmation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut we aren\u2019t,\u201d Nahla muttered.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNahla \u2026\u201d Umm Kamila held her granddaughter’s hand, noticing for the first time how small and coarse it was. \u201cOh, what\u2019s become of the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla smiled as best she could. \u201cThat can\u2019t be all of it, can it, Teta?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila raised her eyebrow again. \u201cWhat do you mean, <\/span>habibiti<\/span><\/i>?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always more \u2026\u201d Nahla muttered to herself. \u201cIs there anything underneath the Bahamut?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes, my dear.\u201d The old woman forced a mischievous smile. \u201cBut do you really want to know?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla went silent, wondering for the first time in her life if it would be better not to. But her grandmother carried on, hoping to lighten the mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeneath the Bahamut is the great serpent Falak, residing in the seventh circle of Hell.\u201d Umm Kamila playfully moved her hand towards Nahla\u2019s face and clasped it before her as a predator\u2019s jaw would before its prey. \u201cSo great is the Falak that it is said that it could devour our world whole.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean\u2026 our world could end?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila caressed her granddaughter\u2019s cheek and smiled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, all things must end. But worry not, my child. That will not happen anytime soon, as I assure you the Falak will never be the one to consume us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The old woman then moved to embrace her granddaughter… only to recoil when Nahla asked her in the faintest of whispers, \u201cHow are you sure of that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy, its fear of God the Almighty, All-Knowing, and Most-Merciful prevents it from doing so, of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nahla took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down before her grandmother added, \u201cAnd as you know, God will always be with us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeta\u2026\u201d Nahla suddenly found it hard to speak. \u201cHow do you know all of this?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy child, these are the stories that have been passed down to us from the very beginning,\u201d Umm Kamila recited the litany that had been recited to her once upon a time, only to pause for a moment and lament: \u201cAnd these stories will be with us until the very end \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A moment of silence passed, one that felt like an eternity to young Nahla, who now found it hard to breathe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut Teta,\u201d She finally broke that silence, her eyes widening with fear as she glanced over at the storm raging past her windows, \u201cif the Kuyutha and the Bahamut are nourished with the Earth\u2019s water \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens now that we have tainted it with our machines?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Umm Kamila took a deep breath \u2014 one she hoped would not end \u2014 only to find herself holding on to her granddaughter with all her might.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeta?\u201d Nahla asked once more when the fire in the hearth finally died down. \u201cWhat will happen to us?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But all she could tell her was: \u201cIt\u2019s best not to think about it, my love …\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*Bahamut and Kuyutha are mythological figures described in ‘<\/span>Aja’ib al-Makhluqat wa Ghara’ib al-Mawjudat<\/span><\/i>: \u0639\u062c\u0627\u0626\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062e\u0644\u0648\u0642\u0627\u062a \u0648\u063a\u0631\u0627\u0626\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0648\u062c\u0648\u062f\u0627\u062a (Wonders of the Creation and Unique [phenomena] of Existence), by cosmographer and geographer Zakariya al-Qazwini, born in Qazwin, Iran, in 1203 AD.\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In May Haddad’s story, a conversation between a young girl and her grandmother reveals the fault lines between the 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