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Back Respected Sir Save as PDF
Chapters (47)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Acknowledgment
  6. Translator’s Introduction
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. About the Author
  46. Other Titles
  47. What’s next onyour reading list?

“In one like mine,” replied Othman in an undertone of sarcasm.

The man had given a loud laugh. He had never questioned the efficiency of his deputy or the fact that he was the backbone of the administration. How could the man have died, in heaven’s name?

Othman went to the First Deputy, who had been an intimate friend of the Director.

“Do you know anything about this tragedy?”

“He had just started on his breakfast,” the First Deputy replied in a stunned voice, “when he suddenly felt tired. He got up and went to lie on the couch. When his wife came up to him to see what was wrong, she found him already dead!”

One felt relatively secure, thought Othman, because one believed that death was logical, that it operated on the basis of premise and conclusion. But death often came upon us without warning, like an earthquake. Isma’il Fayiq had enjoyed perfect health until the last moment, and what happened to him could happen to anyone. Wasn’t that so? Health then was no guarantee, nor was experience, nor knowledge. Fear shook him to the depths. “The best definition of life is that it’s nothing…” Othman said to himself.

But was death something so unfamiliar? Certainly not, but seeing was not like hearing, and his fright would surely persist for a day or two. For in moments like this, profit and loss and joy and sorrow canceled each other out, and things lost their meaning.

“What’s the value of a lifetime of dedicated work?” he would ask himself.

His misgivings stayed with him during the funeral. Even the chitchat of the employees did not deflect his thoughts from their wistful course. But he felt grateful to be alive. “What is true heroism? It is to go on working with undiminished zeal in spite of all that.”

His preoccupation with the post of Director of Administration soon drove all other thoughts from his head. The First Deputy had been nominated for a job in the judiciary system. This left the way clear for himself. He would be promoted to grade two and appointed Head of Administration. After a year’s work in the post he would be eligible for substantive appointment in the post. Hope was now something he could really and truly grasp.

But he was totally dismayed by the decision to appoint someone from the Ministry of Transport as the new Director of Administration.

THIRTY-ONE

No…No…No…