Uncle Ahmed Al-Samak's dreams

Author's name: Khairy Shalaby

“If there is a revolution in the Arabic novel, it is Khairy Shalabi’s revolution.” – Abbas Baydoun

About
As the knife edge sank into the sheep's neck, my nephew, Mukhtar, spread a thick sheet of parchment paper—one of the meat wrappers we had bought to wrap the portions—over the sheep's neck to prevent the fountain of blood from reaching our faces. As for me, my eyes were fixed on the butcher's left wrist as he repeated the Shahada several times to comfort and appease me. I saw a delicate, dark green pattern carved into the butcher's wrist. A feeling of overwhelming ecstasy, indescribable, overwhelmed me, and my ears were filled with what sounded like thunderous ululations that echoed endlessly in the cosmic sky.