And so it happened that the camel driver Arach ben Hassul told the tale of the ruin of Kasch: “… ambassadors and representatives came from all regions to pay homage. They also included inhabitants from For. They stood out from everyone else for their splendid camels, and there was even to be a camel race. An old man, a great expert, had come to Obeid to look after these racing camels; his name was Arach ben Hassul, whose ancestors had belonged to an ancient guild in Kordofan that worked copper. Long extinct in that land, the guild’s last descendents live in Dar For … No less extraordinary than the man himself was his way of revealing his knowledge. For seven days he remained seated with the others, among the storytellers who had gathered around me. For seven days he sipped his coffee like the others. For seven days he spoke no more than a few words of salutation when he came and left. To every question on ancient matters he answered: ‘Don’t know.’ For seven days he remained listening to the stories recorded in this volume [the fourth volume of Atlantis, where the story of the ruin of Kasch was published for the first time], in deep concentration and inconspicuous, apart from the way in which he paid attention.

“But on the eighth day he stood up, ran his hand down his face from his eyes to his chin, and said: ‘I speak.’

“After which he climbed down from the angareb, sat on the ground, and asked the storytellers from Kordofan: ‘Do you know what you are recounting to the taleb? You don’t.²⁵² It is difficult to know.’ Then he drew a line in the sand and said: ‘This is For.’ He drew another line and said: ‘This is Napht. For was son of Napht.’ He drew another line and said: ‘This is Habesch. Napht was son of Habesch.’ He drew a fourth line and said: ‘This is Kasch. Habesch and his brother Masr were sons of Kasch. Kasch was the mahdi of Kordofan. He came from far away, across the sea. The stories you are telling are stories from the time of Kasch, and among these stories there is another story, which however you cannot understand, since everything at that time was different from today. Today in Kordofan there are trees scattered here and there, but at that time there were many, many trees. Today in Kordofan there are barren fields, at that time they were fertile. Today in Kordofan there is little rain, at that time there was plenty. Today in Kordofan there are a few small villages. At that time there were great cities, larger than in Egypt. Today in Kordofan there is no one left who can work copper and gold and iron and brass. At that time all the copper, all the gold, all the brass in the world came from Kordofan. At that time Kordofan was ruled by great melek (kings), and all peoples brought gifts to the melek. Your stories have come down from that period, and there is a story about how those stories were told. But you could not understand it.’ ”