Salat al-Qalaqصلاة القلق

A village rooted in oblivion is shaken to its core in 1977 by the mysterious explosion of an unidentified object. Suddenly, it transforms into a sealed chamber where every villager lives out their own epic: oppressed rebels clamoring for freedom, and despotic tyrants tightening their grip on souls and necks alike. Yet, the narrative thread advances only to loop back, shedding light on a harsh decade spanning from the June Defeat of 1967 to the moment of the explosion—and the bizarre metamorphosis of the villagers’ faces into those of tortoises. A single event in the hamlet is recounted by eight distinct characters, whose narratives weave a spellbinding mosaic of the tale. At its heart, the novel interrogates the Defeat and the subsequent illusions of sovereignty and victory. Who, then, writes true history: the jackboot, the rifle, and the iron chain, or the undying cries of rebellion? And what does the year 1977 awaken within us—the death of meaning and art, or the absurdity of fate and the hollowness of a false peace? Is the village of

"Al-Manasi" not a grand metaphor for a generation of the disfigured?