Chapters (47)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Acknowledgment
- Translator’s Introduction
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- About the Author
- Other Titles
- What’s next onyour reading list?
During the course of his long service he got used to his own split personality and the moral conflicts it had to go through. He also got used to disappointments, both those which can be expected and those which cannot—like this one, for example. A feeling of lassitude, almost of despair, oppressed his innermost soul. Thus when a grade four position in the Legal Department became vacant, his anxiety prompted him to speak out. He had never done so before: in the past his habit had been to let his deeds and services speak for him. Thanks to the general atmosphere which his work with His Excellency the Director General created he was able to say to him, “If Your Excellency would be so kind, you might agree to my using my knowledge of the law in the Legal Department.”
“No! The Legal Department is a monopoly of people with certain privileges and will be better left alone,” the man answered decisively.
Alas, it was the same story as the wife for whom he had been waiting for so long. He was annoyed, but he answered deferentially, “As you wish, Your Excellency!”
He was walking toward the door when he was stopped by the man’s voice: “I’ve proposed in the new budget that the Head of Archives post be raised to grade four.”
He turned, took one long step, and bowed until his head nearly touched the edge of the desk.
EIGHTEEN
This was assuredly a gratifying leap forward. If fortune continued to smile on him, he might achieve his ambition in twelve or fifteen years and still have a few years ahead of him in which to exercise high administrative responsibilities like His Excellency. But, as for Omm Zaynab’s mission, it was certain she had failed. That could no longer be doubted. A Head of Archives (he thought) was simply not acceptable. A Director of Administration might be accepted, but a Director General would never be rejected, not even if he was a senile dotard.
The reasons for marrying were countless. Marriage was a consolation to the lonely heart and the agonies of solitude. Marriage would also satisfy that religious aspect of his soul which regarded his celibacy as a sin. The tensions in his life were alleviated by the role Qadriyya played in it, but she did not provide him with those feelings of loving kindness, tenderness, and human understanding which marriage offered, not to mention that she intensified his sense of guilt. The only comfort he had was his work, knowledge, and the exercise of thrift. And whenever he was tired of frugality, he told himself, “That’s how the Orthodox Caliphs lived!”