In the etiquette of friendship

These messages were not originally written for publication, as is the case with some of our famous literary correspondences, they were decided to be published after the death of Abdul Rahman, through a commendable initiative by Suad Qawadri Muneef and Marwan, and I have no doubt that Abdul Rahman would have agreed if asked. These correspondences are a story of friendship, a friendship that predates the start of the exchange. Published in "The Literature of Friendship" by Abdul Rahman Muneef and Marwan Qassab Bashi, within the books of distinguished correspondence literature in a joint edition between Dar Al-Tanweer and the Arab Foundation for Studies. A brief about the book "In the Literature of Friendship" To friendship, these messages form rare testimonies about the process of literary and artistic production and their relationship, the friends fall silent and the correspondence stops for months during the American invasion of Iraq. Abdul Rahman breaks the silence explaining the reason: sadness and frustration. Abdul Rahman takes refuge in the popular wisdom "If it’s not destroyed, it won’t be built," and Marwan strengthens himself with Saadallah Wannous’s saying "We have been condemned to hope." A closing scene: Marwan in his new café waiting for the light, the clouds of stubborn Germany clear away: "The important thing is the light," he says… Spring 2011… the light came to us… Mohammed Bou Azizi fulfilled Nadhim Hakkim’s will: "If I do not burn / and you do not burn / and we all do not burn, how can darkness become light?" Vision: Abdul Rahman concluded his book about Al-Bahi Muhammad, citing this visionary text of his friend, our mutual friend: "The flood comes and everything becomes possible, and the word impossible is erased from the dictionary. A new Noah overturns the foolish complacency prevailing. A man and a woman are driven by the desire for love, procreation, and work. They rebuild the new world according to their taste and fill the earth with justice after it was filled with injustice… Where are you, O great flood?"