A nearby sky I know, author: Tasneem Al Habib

The novel translates the being of the young writer Tasneem — and her polished ideological sense with strength and resilience, containing human contradictions in all their forms, and social concepts in which the forces of evil and good clash. Mustafa, the hero of the novel, is a model embodying a desired human perfection. He lived in alienation in a reality where values were scarce to the point of obscurity due to mysterious circumstances. Here lies the test of the novel, for this luminous radiance of Mustafa was the axis of conflicting human tendencies and the most prominent attraction for the aspirations of people who were strongly connected to him. He is the symbol of all the various aspects of goodness, such as safety, patience, faith, principles combined within his moving self on the ground. He took care of the kind widow (Umm Mohsen) after her husband died of an overdose of drugs, leaving her with a small child. Mustafa was captivated by this child, drawing from his source paternal tenderness, the values of manhood, and he became a boy. The love Mustafa held for this wealthy, esteemed widow left him disturbed in the depths of grief and waiting. He lived with her as a shadow, but his being as a man with his second wife (Yasmin), the girl who ignited an unquenchable fire in his life, was affected by that widow who ignited in her heart the fire of jealousy and envy. From the depths of the novel, we read abundant moral meanings reinforced by the writer within the context of critical human relationships, which humans are tested by in second marriage — such as a woman's jealousy, suspicion, doubt, hatred, revenge, and other negative values, and the destructive impact of these on the inner person and those around him. Mustafa’s motives — and he was good — may not be understood by an ordinary person, which is why he lived as a stranger, oppressed by psychological pressures that consumed his energy and deprived him of strength. He tried, according to his principles, to live justly with both wives. He is a different fabric in his profound view of life, his approach, and his luminous path. That passionate perspective guided him to find salvation in a nearby sky that contains him, embraces him, holds him, and opens its arms to hide him in its paradise whenever exhaustion overtakes him. At the end of the novel, he stands bewildered, pondering in confusion: where did Mustafa go, leaving his loved ones in vain search? What does this absence mean? Is he the moral symbol we are now missing and between existing or not? Where did Mustafa go, and what does his sudden disappearance signify? Perhaps we only realize the value of those we love when they leave. Is he a symbol of relief and salvation from our daily sufferings? Mustafa will only appear when intentions and souls are purified. Does his absence symbolize the absence of good in a deceptive, arrogant world? Number of pages: 167