كان حزنه حزنهم وكربه كربهم، غير أنه شعر بأنه إذا اختلط وقال فقوله مجروح وأيًا كان ما يبوح به فبوحه قابل للتأويل
Their grief was his grief and their anguish his anguish, yet he felt that if he mingled and spoke, his word would be suspect, and whatever he confided would be open to interpretation.
From the novel Menorahs and Minarets · Chapter 3
Words of a narrator or a character belong to the novel's world, not to the author's personal views.
Menorahs and Minarets
Menorahs and Minaretsيفطن عقلي قليلًا، فأعرف أني مسلم يعيش بين يهود.. الأم والجدة والجد والخالة والخال.. غير أنه لم يكن لي غيرهم، وكنت عزيزًا على جدي زكي بالذات أكثر من أيٍّ من أحفاده اليهود في يهود..
My mind begins to grasp a little: I am a Muslim living among Jews—mother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle—yet I had no one but them, and I was dearer to Grandfather Zaki than any of his Jewish-through-and-through grandchildren.
Menorahs and Minarets- كانت عِشْرة يا ابني، والعشرة متهونش إلا على ولاد الحرام.
It was a shared life, my son—and a shared life is cheap only to the wicked.
Menorahs and Minaretsفهكذا حالي مع أمي، في البعد تنازعني نفسي كلما جُرْت عليها، وإذا التقينا يلوك القلب فيما لا يقال..
Such is my state with my mother: at a distance my conscience torments me whenever I've been unjust to her, and when we meet the heart chews on what cannot be said.