These letters were not originally intended for publication, as is the case with some of our famous literary correspondences. Their publication was decided upon after Abdul Rahman’s death, thanks to the commendable initiative of Suad Qawadri, Munif, and Marwan. I have no doubt that Abdul Rahman would have agreed had he been asked, for these letters tell the story of a friendship\u2014a friendship that predates the beginning of their correspondence.<\/p>\n
Beyond friendship, these letters constitute rare testimonies to the process of literary and artistic production and the relationship between them. The two friends fall silent, and their correspondence ceases for months during the American invasion of Iraq. Abdul Rahman breaks the silence, explaining the reason: sadness and despair. He clings to the popular wisdom, “If it’s destroyed, it can’t be rebuilt,” while Marwan draws strength from Saadallah Wannous’s words, “We have been condemned to hope.”<\/p>\n
Final Scene: Marwan, in his new home, awaits the light as the stubborn clouds of Germany dissipate. “The important thing is the light,” he says… Spring 2011… The light has come…<\/p>\n
Mohamed Bouazizi fulfilled Nazim Hikmet’s wish: “If I don’t burn \/ If you don’t burn \/ If we don’t all burn, how can darkness become light?”…<\/p>\n
Vision: Abdel Rahman concludes his book about Al-Bahi Mohamed by quoting this visionary text from his friend, our mutual friend: “The flood comes, and everything becomes possible, and the word ‘impossible’ is erased from the dictionary. A new Noah sweeps away the prevailing dull dependency. A man and a woman, driven by the desire for love, procreation, and work, will build the new world according to their own taste and fill the earth with justice after it has been filled with injustice… Where are you, O great flood?”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A book that delves into the meaning of friendship with profound human and intellectual depth, exploring its values \u200b\u200band transformations in human life with a reflective style rich in experiences and insights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_cat":[949,940,923,921,834],"product_tag":[1252,2728,1359,1343],"class_list":{"0":"post-25715","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-general-literature","7":"product_cat-arabic-literature","8":"product_cat-literary-articles","9":"product_cat-literary-texts","10":"product_cat-philosophy","11":"product_tag-feelings","12":"product_tag-literature","13":"product_tag-philosophy","14":"product_tag-thought","15":"pa_book-author-abdul-rahman-munif","17":"first","18":"onbackorder","19":"sale","20":"shipping-taxable","21":"purchasable","22":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/25715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=25715"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awraqonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=25715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}