Beginning and End

On the evening of the next day, no one remained in the house except its family. The furniture of the deceased's room was piled up in a corner and its door was closed. The children gathered around their mother, feeling that it was time for them to listen to her. The mother knew she should speak, and she was clear about what to say; she had thought about it and reflected at length. Perhaps nothing puzzled her more than this contradiction between her outward appearance, which indicated firmness and strength, and her inner self, which was filled with mercy and compassion for her miserable family. She lowered her eyes, controlling her gaze directed towards her, and said: Our calamity is severe; we have only God, and God does not forget His servants. Poverty may be a merciless killer; a killer of life, hope, ambition, and honor. Thus began and ended the tragedy of the family of "Kamil Effendi Ali"; it started with the sudden death of the family’s father, who maintained for them a modest amount of a decent life. His death ended that life, and a new life began, built on poverty, sin, and selfishness. The harsh economic and social conditions of Egyptian society during World War II struck the family, consisting of a single daughter, three sons, and a mother. The daughter, "Nafeesa," turned to sewing and then to sin; the eldest son, "Hassan," resorted to crime and hooliganism; while the middle son, "Hussein," sacrificed his ambition for higher education and studying medicine to work as a modest employee. The youngest son, "Hassanain," was the family’s hope for success. With his brothers' help, he managed to enter the military college, but selfishness overtook him. He saw his brothers as a shame upon him.