{"id":9690,"date":"2022-08-15T08:36:14","date_gmt":"2022-08-15T06:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/?p=9690"},"modified":"2023-02-20T10:10:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T08:10:55","slug":"fatima-and-the-handsome-jew-excerpt-from-ali-al-muqris-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themarkaz.org\/oldmarkaz\/fatima-and-the-handsome-jew-excerpt-from-ali-al-muqris-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"“Fatima and The Handsome Jew”\u2014Ali Al-Muqri"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Yemeni Jew at a traditional wedding (photo courtesy Talia Collis\/Vogue).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exclusive excerpt from The Handsome Jew<\/em>, a novel by Ali Al-Muqri
\nTranslated by Mbarek Sryfi
\nDar Arab<\/a> 2022
\nISBN 9781788710879<\/p>\n

The Markaz Review bookgroup will discuss The Handsome Jew<\/em>, moderated by Rana Asfour and with translator Mbarek Sryfi, on August 28, 2022. Info<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ali Al-Muqri<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

And then it was the year 1054 AH (AD1644 -1645), during which, after the wind of years had crushed me and death debilitated me, I decided to record these stories about Fatima\u2019s days and her time, up to this year when I married a dream, and we had twins: hope and catastrophe.<\/p>\n

It all began seven years ago. Over the course of those years, I did some chores for her family, and they rewarded me, generously, with whatever they had, be it corn, bread, or candy. At first, I didn\u2019t like the idea of going to their house. I would spend most of my time with my new friend, a dog I picked up as a puppy in the street without its mother\u2019s knowledge; I branded the tip of its ear with a knife and called it \u2018Allus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Handsome Jew<\/em> is available in print and Kindle<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wasn\u2019t able to take it with me until the third time. That day, my father asked me to carry some firewood to the mufti\u2019s house, which was how the man was known in the village of Raydah. My mother picked out a pile from the sticks she had gathered from the mountains, tied it up with a tree- fibre rope, and put it on my head. I dragged my dog along. He would stop whenever he saw something moving. But with the dog beside me, I didn\u2019t feel the weight of the wood the way I had the last two times.<\/p>\n

Amat al-Raouf skilfully ignored us, both boy and dog. Her sister Fatima would usually open the door when she heard me yelling \u201cHello there! Anyone home?\u201d She would then take me to the third-floor roof, where the family cooked and baked bread. There, I would deposit my load, with \u2018Allus waiting patiently all the while by the front door.<\/p>\n

By the time my eyes began to open a bit, as I fought the prickly pain on my head, Fatima would have unfurled her smile all over the place. She would linger, before getting me whatever her father, mother, or she herself decided to give me for what I\u2019d brought. Even before that, she would lift up my spirits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a strong man!\u201d she would say to praise me, and go on to pray, \u201cGod bless you\u2026 May He make you rich and strong\u2026 may He protect you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMay God keep you young and bring joy to your years\u201d were words that made my day, complimenting my coming of age, while everyone else around me insisted on reminding me that I was younger than her. I was twelve at the time, and, according to my mother, she was five years my senior.<\/p>\n

Many times, Fatima would give me a cup of tea and gaze at me in admiration. I didn\u2019t know what attracted her. She would rarely say anything. Sometimes, she would hold my head and pull my face to her waist, or she would bend over and touch her chest. Once there, she\u2019d whisper, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? What’s the matter?\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

2<\/h4>\n

One morning, she surprised me. She announced that, the next day, she was going to start teaching me to read and write. With that in mind, I had to get ready to spend every morning with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t they teach you at home, my handsome Jew?\u201d<\/p>\n

I felt my stomach flutter as she tenderly and flirtatiously articulated those words, which I wasn\u2019t used to. Was I her <\/em>Jew? Her own <\/em>Jew. Not only that, but, in her eyes, I was handsome<\/em>. Not knowing the meaning of reading and writing, I answered her question with a shrug.<\/p>\n

At home, I asked my father about it. He explained that the sayings and prayers he used in his invocations were found in old manuscripts, that they were recorded on tablets, parchments, and papyruses for those who knew how to read, by those who knew how to write. He himself did not know how to read or write, he told me, but he observed the prayers and heard the sayings and hymns from other people who had heard them from the ancestors.<\/p>\n

When I told him that the mufti\u2019s daughter was going to teach me reading and writing, he looked stunned. He stared at me for a long time without saying a word. Long minutes elapsed before I heard him mumble something indistinctly to himself.<\/p>\n

That night, he woke me up. \u201cListen to me very carefully. Learning how to read and write with them is all good. But\u2026be careful. Make sure not to learn their religion and their Quran\u2026they are Muslims, son, and we are Jews\u2026do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded. Yet, the next morning, he repeated what he had said. He handed me a leather bag covered with lambswool, in which he put a clay tablet for writing, a ceramic inkwell filled with a vivid brown liquid, and a stick resembling a tooth-cleaning miswak <\/em>for writing. For erasing, he gave me a piece of silk like a small pillow, filled with cotton, that you wet when in use.<\/p>\n

As Fatima welcomed me, her expression was full of delight. She invited me to their long room, which they called the diwan<\/em>, and there we sat facing each other. She began writing on the tablet, \u201cS\u2026A\u2026L\u2026E\u2026M\u2026Salem.\u201d I relished my name as her lips enunciated it. I felt like someone stumbling onto his name and existence for the very first time. She held my hand as she taught me how to draw the letters and say them aloud.<\/p>\n

\u201cHandsome,\u201d she told me after that first lesson, \u201cvery handsome\u2026You\u2019re so smart!\u201d \u201cNow, what would you like?\u201d she went on with a smile. \u201cDo you want me to write your name as \u2018Salem the Jew\u2019 or \u2018Salem the handsome,\u2019 or, you know what, \u2018the handsome Jew\u2019? What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shrank back, not knowing what to say. I simply lowered my head, so that my eyes avoided hers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe handsome Jew, then,\u201d she said. \u201cI know you like it when I call you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photograph of a young Yemeni Jew, early 20th century (photo Ephraim Moshe Lilien).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She spelled out the letters of my name and my new moniker, and she kept repeating them in a tone that sounded like chanting.<\/p>\n

That is how I started getting lessons from her every morning. First, she taught me the alphabet, from Aleph to Yaa\u2019. Then she taught me how to connect two letters or more to form a word, \u201cFather, mother, free, affection, love.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I started writing and reading in complete words and sentences, she brought a book with colored writing, which she asked me to read. I saw decorated words, interlaced and dotted letters, in a wide font that made reading difficult. But, as soon as I heard Fatima\u2019s voice reading them, I learned them by heart.<\/p>\n

As a matter of fact, what I learned by heart was her voice, not the words, which I could never match. Her performance of them, in a melodious voice, drew me in and amazed me. I kept on repeating them in the same style, either in front of her, on the road, or at home:<\/p>\n

By the sun and its brightness,<\/p>\n

And by the moon\u2014when it follows it, And by the day\u2014when it displays it, And by the night\u2014when it covers it,<\/p>\n

And by the sky\u2014and He who constructed it, And by the earth\u2014and He who spread it,<\/p>\n

And by the soul\u2014and He who proportioned it.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed other words:<\/p>\n

By the morning brightness,<\/p>\n

And by the night when it covers all with darkness, Your Lord has not taken leave of you,<\/p>\n

O Muhammad, nor has He despised you.<\/p>\n

And the Hereafter is better for you than the first life.<\/p>\n

And your Lord will give unto you, and you will be satisfied. Did He not find you an orphan and give you refuge?<\/p>\n

He found you lost and guided you,<\/p>\n

And He found you poor and made you self-sufficient. So as for the orphan, do not oppress him.<\/p>\n

And as for the petitioner, do not repel him.<\/p>\n

At home, when my father heard my voice as I recited those words, he almost lost it. He kept standing up and sitting down, coming and going back and forth, yelling, \u201cOh God Almighty\u2026Oh God Almighty.\u201d My mother tried to calm him down while asking him what was the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? He\u2019s just repeating Arabic hymns, talking about the sun, the moon, and providing for orphans.\u201d<\/p>\n

He raised his voice, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? What are you saying, whore? This is the Quran\u2026This is the Muslim\u2019s religion\u2026They\u2019ll ruin the boy\u2026They\u2019ll ruin the Jew\u2019s son\u2026 They\u2019ll ruin the Jew\u2019s son\u2026Oh God Almighty\u2026Oh God Almighty!\u201d<\/p>\n

Our neighbor As\u2018ad heard him and called out from his roof, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on, al-Naqqash? What\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, he pushed open the door to our house and asked again. What he learned was soon known to the whole neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Even though it was nothing, what Fatima had done was like igniting a fire in the Jewish neighborhood. She had just taught me how to read and write.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In “The Handsome Jew” the novelist from Yemen recounts a powerful yet tragic tale of forbidden love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":9691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,51],"tags":[673,866,896,949,1457,1846],"article-category":[],"article-type":[],"coauthors":[1880],"class_list":["post-9690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-excerpt","category-fiction","category-tmr-weekly","tag-forbidden-love","tag-intolerance","tag-islam","tag-jews","tag-religious-barriers","tag-yemen"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Fatima and The Handsome Jew"\u2014Ali Al-Muqri - 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