Tears

Author's name: Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti

A collection of tragic stories, in which Al-Manfaluti evokes feelings of sorrow and grief; you hardly turn from one story to the next, for the next is even more sorrowful and wretched. The entire collection is a tragedy, sharing for the most part the anguish of lovers, the misery of the poor, the anguish of the oppressed, and the agony of the bereaved. Indeed, tears flow while reading each story. In "The Orphan," you see that life denied the lovers their union, so death was more merciful to them. In "The Veil," Al-Manfaluti calls for resisting the allure of Western traditions. And in the story of "Granada," you see Muslims striving to preserve their faith after losing their land. Al-Manfaluti illustrates the effect of addiction on the individual and how it leads to a fall into the abyss. Al-Manfaluti reaches the pinnacle of tragedy, making us weep with all our hearts when we read "The Victim," "Marguerite's Memoirs," and "The Rest of the Memoirs." It feels as if all the misery of the world has been placed in that poor Margaret.