فيبدو أن كُلاَّ منا، ودون أن يدري، كان يصنع الآخر على هواه. أراها مسلمه، وتراني يهوديًا..

It seems each of us, without knowing it, had been shaping the other to our own liking. I see her as a Muslim, and she sees me as a Jew.

لم يعد لهم إلا هي.. هي السلوى والحنين، وخزة الألم وطيف الأمل، هي الشمس التي غربت، ولا دفء عادوا يشعرون به.. تأتي إليهم عندما يكونون فرادى في بيوتهم، تكلمهم ويكلمونها، تغويهم فيصدقونها، تشير إليهم وإذا هي سراب!

They had nothing left but her. She was their solace and their longing, the stab of pain and the ghost of hope; she was the sun that had set, and they felt no warmth any more. She comes to them when they are alone in their homes; she speaks to them and they speak to her; she tempts them and they believe her; she beckons, and she is a mirage.

ما هذا الذي جعل الشيخ منجي القوي المتين يهوي كما تهوي أوراق الشجر في الخريف، ويأتي له أهل أمي بثيابهم السود! ما هذا الذي يجمع القريب بالبعيد ويجعل من العدو زائرًا شفيقًا، ويأخذنا من حال إلى حال فنطرق رؤوسنا واجمين ساهمين نتوكأ على بعضنا البعض، ويخُرج كل منا للآخر أحسن ما فيه!

What is it that made Sheikh Menji, so strong and solid, fall as leaves fall in autumn, and brought my mother's people to him in their black clothes? What is it that joins the near to the far, turns the enemy into a tender visitor, carries us from one state to another so that we bow our heads, silent and dazed, leaning on one another, and draws out of each of us the best that is in him?