Table of Contents
Praise
Title Page
Dedication
BOOK OF LOVE I - Olive trees and answers both need time.
1. The Question
BOOK OF DEATH I - Questions are the children of freedom.
2. A Body in the Basket
3. Police Commissioner Barudi
4. In the Jungle
5. Mansur
6. Colonel Badran and the Course of Events
BOOK OF LOVE II - Love is poverty that makes you rich.
7. The Fire
8. Strangers
9. Rapprochement
10. The End of Childhood
11. An Obstacle
12. In Love
13. Scruples
14. Atonement
15. Suspicion
BOOK OF LOVE III - Women are like elm trees, beating them does no good.
16. Sarka’s Laughter
17. Laila’s Decision
18. Laila and the Madman
19. Hyenas
20. Sarka’s Fever
21. The Elm Tree
BOOK OF THE CLAN I - Arab clans and pyramids ignore the passing of time.
22. The Gulf
23. Elias Leaves
24. A Reception
25. The Novice
26. How Mushtak Won Honour
27. Weddings
28. The Transformation of Elias
29. Loneliness
30. Arson
31. Nasibe
32. Adnan’s Revenge
33. Flight
34. Defeat of the Master of the House
35. Samira and Shams
BOOK OF THE CLAN II - The clan saved the Arabs from the desert, and at the same ...
36. Jasmin and Mariam
37. Samia
38. Fifty-One and One
39. The Struggle
40. Faris the Patient
41. Musa and Hasib
42. End of a Hope
43. Butros and Samuel
44. A Mother’s Lament
45. Amira
46. The Opportunity
47. Shaklan’s Birthday Party
48. Dethroned
49. Salman
50. Ismail
BOOK OF THE CLAN III - Love is a wildcat with nine lives
51. Lucia and Nagib
52. Tamam and Sarkis
53. The Rift and the Meeting
54. Purgatory and Paradise
55. Beirut, or Deliverance
56. Autumnal Atmosphere
57. An Unholy Alliance
58. The Lightness of Love
59. Mirages and Oases
60. Water In A Sieve
61. Pangs of Conscience
62. Practice
BOOK OF LOVE IV - At the moment of love there’s no place for a strange woman
63. Disturbances
64. Sheikh Napoleon
65. Laila
BOOK OF GROWTH I - Caterpillars dream of flying.
66. Childhood
67. Grandparents
68. Love
69. K.O.
70. Temptation
71. An Oasis Called Antoinette
72. The Hammam
73. The Gang
74. Boxing
75. At the Barber’s
76. Cats and Bandits
77. A Series of Coups
78. The Alley
79. An Angel’s Weak Point
80. A Message
82. The Short Memory of Chickens
83. The Devil’s Daughters
84. Secrets
85. Death
86. On the Rooftops
87. Forbidden Reading
88. The Photograph
89. The Inventor
90. Laila’s New House
91. Grandfather’s Death
92. Going to Church
93. Saying Goodbye
BOOK OF LAUGHTER I - The world of the imagination welcomes children more kindly ...
94. Damascus
95. The Cat-Lover
96. The Scooter
97. Hashish
98. The Photographer
99. Suleiman and the Chickens
100. Sugar Dollies
101. Quo Vadis?
102. Jokers
103. Superstition
104. Grandfather’s Glasses
105. Gibran
106. Salma and St. John
107. When the Tram Stopped
108. Children’s Games
109. Festival of Sacrifice
110. Riding a Bicycle
111. Maaruf Directing Traffic
112. Raining Sugar-Coated Fennel Seeds
113. Grandfather’s Salt
BOOK OF LONELINESS I - Loneliness is death’s twin brother.
114. The Journey
115. Tanios and Asma
116. Elopement
117. The Gate
118. The Tonsure
119. The First Night
120. Summer Days
121. Joan of Arc
122. Nights in Autumn
123. The Inquisitor
124. A Shipwrecked Sailor
125. Silence
126. Rebels
127. An Excursion
128. The Syrian Brothers
129. Discord
130. Epilepsy
131. Spiritual Welfare
132. Fire and Water
133. Claire’s Second Visit
134. The Sufferings of the Christians
135. Matta
136. Brother Nicholas
137. Spectres by Night
138. Drifting Apart
139. Encounters
140. Matta Runs Away
141. Punishment
142. Marcel
143. Farewell
144. A Lioness
145. Going Back
BOOK OF GROWTH II - He who reads books in spite of school will become a master.
146. Coming Home
147. Josephine
148. Matta’s Ordeal
149. Rana
150. Three Days of Dreams Come True
151. Laila
152. Women Visiting
153. Saki’s Flight
154. Turmoil
155. Suleiman and Lamia
156. Indian Movies
157. Gibran the Sailor
158. The Club
159. Amin
160. Hakawati of the Night
161. Wars Large and Small
162. Backgammon
163. Nourishment
164. The End of a Dream
165. Training
166. The President’s Jacket
167. Gibran’s Love
168. Alone
169. Women Helping Out
170. Rasuk and Elizabeth
171. The Debts of Venice
172. Paths Crossing
173. The State of God
174. The Trap
175. The Prayer
176. Hunter and Hunted
177. The Wine Cellar
178. Masculine Honour
179. Listening to Films
180. Fatima and Josef
BOOK OF LAUGHTER II - Faith seldom moves mountains, but superstition moves ...
181. Nerves
182. Azar’s Machines
183. A Women’s Meeting
184. A Little Worm
185. Crazy Hours
186. The Oath
187. Of Cats and Clever Women
188. Matta’s Fiancée
189. The Night of Jokes
BOOK OF LOVE V - Happiness often lies in delaying misfortune.
190. The Man Who Saw With His Ears
191. Karim
e
192. Breathless
193. Moon Woman
BOOK OF HELL I - If we are to respect the freedom of others we must first ...
194. Lilo
195. Interrogation
196. The Forecourt of Hell
197. Said
198. The Chinese
199. The Children of Job
200. The Power of Words
201. The Rift
202. The False Martyr
203. The Chemistry of Isolation
204. Salto Vitale
BOOK OF LOVE VI - Love lives only in the memory but it needs oblivion too.
205. A Bus Ride
206. Josef’s Promise
207. Dunia and the Bedroom Woman
208. Late Enlightenment
209. Spring in Autumn
BOOK OF GROWTH III - Courage kills and so does cowardice.
210. Josef’s Injury
211. Gibran’s Return
212. Matta’s Wedding
213. Hegel in Damascus
214. Coincidence
215. One Of Us
216. “Youth”
217. Love of the Eunuchs
218. An Icy Spring
219. The Fair
220. Treasure Hunting
BOOK OF LAUGHTER III - Both chemical factories and dictators contaminate their surroundings.
221. Fasting in Space
222. Munir’s Father
223. Paradise
BOOK OF GROWTH IV - A dictator lives not on earth but in his head.
224. The Problem of Brothers
225. Goodbye
226. Beginnings
227. First Signs
228. Radicals
229. A Meeting
230. Song of the Cicadas
231. Sharifa
232. Illusion
233. Women’s Views
234. Sobering Up
235. Laila’s Night
236. Drinking the Rainbow
237. The Mental Hospital
238. Sabri and Rachel
239. Despair
240. In Flight
241. Lonely Night
BOOK OF LAUGHTER IV - He who sows suspicion reaps traitors.
242. Poetry
243. Adding Up the Truth
BOOK OF HELL II - Those who come to Tad are lost. Those who leave Tad are reborn.
244. The Way to Golgotha
245. Reception
246. Nagi
247. Garasi
248. Loyalty and Recantation
249. At Night
250. The Quarry
251. Dawn
252. Milhelm
253. Darwish
254. Solitary Confinement
255. Time Drags By
256. Alphabet of Humanity
257. Autumn
258. Development Aid
259. Helplessness
260. Silence
261. The Guardian Angel
262. The Rising
263. The End of the Tunnel
264. Last Attempt
265. Victory
266. The End of Garasi
267. Nabil
268. The Cold Voice
269. Mahdi’s Arrival
270. At Close Quarters
271. The Cold Hand of Fear
272. The Injection
BOOK OF LAUGHTER V - Laughter breaks and enters, opening mouths, hearts, and wounds.
273. My Mother Says
BOOK OF GROWTH V - Presidents come and go, but the records on file remain.
274. Bulos
275. Metamorphosis
276. The Ransom
277. Cold Sharper Than a Razorblade
278. The Visit
BOOK OF LONELINESS II - Love is the only sickness whose victims don’t want a cure.
279. In the House of Sparrows
280. First Report
281. On a Distant Island
282. Hanna Bishara
283. Mother
284. Liking
285. An Outing
286. Brightly Coloured Birds
287. Second Report
288. Opening Up
289. Two Doctors and One Patient
290. Third Report
291. Kisses
292. Fourth Report
BOOK OF BUTTERFLIES - When a butterfly first sees the light it forgets ...
293. Suspicion
294. Out of the Cocoon
295. The Wound and the Trap
296. Rana’s Revenge
297. The Flight of the Butterflies
298. The Reckoning
BOOK OF LOVE VII - Those who are loved do not die.
299. Arrival
300. The Answer
BOOK OF DEATH II - Truth is a jewel whose owner is rich and lives dangerously.
301. Rumours
302. Persistence
303. An Undignified Departure
BOOK OF COLOUR - The loveliest of all colours is the secret colour of words.
304. The Last Piece in the Mosaic
Copyright Page
PRAISE FOR The Dark Side of Love
‘At last, the Great Arab Novel – appearing without ifs, buts, equivocations, metaphorical camouflage or hidden meanings. Schami’s book is exceptional not only in the scope of his ambition, but also in its ability to juggle a vast cast of characters in a complex structure. Despite its length, the book is a compulsive read.’
– The Independent
‘The picture of Syrian life and recent history is the great strength of this novel. Schami would not have achieved it without considerable skill… With its feuds, lovers, murders, villains and assorted heroes and heroines, this is a novel to enjoy and to ponder.’
– Washington Times
‘In The Dark Side of Love, Rafik Schami exploits all the resources of the classic realist novel and then goes a little further, forging a new form out of Syrian orality…Schami’s Mala is on a par with Márquez’s Macondo for colour and resonance. The Dark Side of Love illumines almost every side of love, as well as fear, longing, cruelty and lust. Darkness and light alternate like the basalt and marble stripes on Damascene walls, and the novel’s structure is just as strong. A book like this requires a less limiting title. I suggest something as expansive, as comprehensive, as War and Peace.’
– The Guardian
‘In Anthea Bell’s deft, witty translation, each of Schami’s 853 pages and 304 chapters is a pleasure to read.’
– The Observer
‘Anthea Bell’s translation is…remarkable, sure-handed and lapse-free. Schami is a wonderful storyteller.’
– The Nation
‘…a joyous book…Schami, a major international talent, has a broad range, from the scatological to the sexually comic to the painful’
– Publishers Weekly
‘A masterpiece! A marvel of prose that mixes myths, tales, legends, and a wonderful love story…’
– Die Zeit
CONDITIONS OF SALE
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchase.
For two great women,
Hanne Joakim and Root Leeb
FAMILY TREE OF THE SHAHIN CLAN
FAMILY TREE OF THE MUSHTAK CLAN
BOOK OF LOVE I
Olive trees and answers both need time.
DAMASCUS, SPRING 1960
1. The Question
“Do you really think our love stands any chance?”
Farid asked this question not to remi
nd Rana of the blood feud between their families, but because he was feeling wretched and could see no hope.
Three days ago his friend Amin had been picked up as he left home and taken away by the secret police. Witch-hunts against communists had been in progress ever since the union of Syria and Egypt in the spring of 1958, and 1959 was a particularly bad year. President Satlan had made irate and inflammatory speeches denouncing communists and the Iraqi dictator Damian’s regime. There was no let-up as the year drew to its close; jeeps raced down the streets of the capital even by night carrying victims of the secret service. Their families were left weeping with fear. Tales were told of the bloodshed on New Year’s Eve. Rumours went from mouth to mouth, creating even more fear of the secret service, which seemed to have its informers in every home.
Love seemed to Farid a luxury that day. He had spent a few hours with Rana in his dead grandmother’s house, undisturbed. Here in Damascus, every meeting with her was an oasis in the desert of his loneliness. Very different from those weeks in Beirut, where they had hidden eight years ago. There, every day began and ended in Rana’s arms. There, love had been a wide and gentle river landscape.
His grandmother’s house hadn’t been sold yet. Claire, his mother, had given him the key that morning. “But your underpants had better stay on,” she laughed.
The sun was shining, but it was a bitterly cold day. Musty damp met him as he entered the house. He opened the windows, letting fresh air in, and finally lit the stoves in the kitchen and bedroom. Farid hated nothing more than the smell of damp, cold stagnation.
When Rana arrived just before twelve, the stoves were already red-hot. “Was it at your grandmother’s house we were going to meet, or in the hammam?” she joked.
As always, she was enchantingly beautiful, but he couldn’t shake off a sense of impending danger. While he kissed her, he thought of the Indian who sought safety from a flood on a rooftop and slowly sank to a watery death. Farid clung to his lover like a drowning man. Her heart beat against his chest.