research—a Nabulsi asking him for information about Nablus—albeit few enough to count on one hand. It was a long time since he last examined his notes from those days. He scoured his memory. Beyond the recent remarks about Midhat being in hospital, he could vaguely recall some sidelong expressions of resentment but could summon no particulars.
“I can’t think,” he said. “Prejudice is common.”
“Yes, yes,” said Midhat, wearily. “I don’t care so much, anymore, what other people think of me.”
“That’s good.”
“We need a bit of it, it’s not nothing.” Midhat stretched one leg to put his ankle on his knee. “But I think my family is enough. My wife is the measure of my life. And I am always falling short. Ha! Then, my cousin … he was my moral measure. And I always fell short. My children are my family measure: but I fall short. By their expectations I am always a compromise, I always fail. On the other hand, I think,” unexpectedly his voice cracked—he leaned forward, his ankle slipped awkwardly off his knee, “without them, I would be nothing at all.”
At this eruption of feeling, Antoine started. Midhat was staring wide-eyed at the olive grove. Without warning, his whole body lurched, and as though something were rising and forcing its way out of his mouth, he choked: “Father.”
Antoine glanced at the door, wondering if he should call a nurse. Neither of the other men noticed Midhat’s agitation. But the girl—the girl’s eyes were fixed on him. Her arms had seized up, as one afraid of making a sudden move.
Midhat held his knees with his long fingers, gaping at the distance. “Father,” he said again.
“Yes.” Antoine put a hand on Midhat’s back. “Yes, I’m here.”
With one long deep inhalation, as if surfacing from underwater, Midhat said: “I forgive you.”
Antoine’s breath stopped. “What?” he said.
He tried to stop the hand on Midhat’s back from shaking.
At the valley’s edge, the sun plunged towards the mountain. A wide strip of sky was turning red. The heat thinned on the air, and the conflagration spread across the glass of the windows.
In Midhat, something heavy gave way. He heard, or felt, the lapping of a black lake below him, and a sigh of stone-chilled air just released, and the tinkle of a deep well, shooting glances of light up at a man kneeling with his roped bucket. He felt the warm consistent pressure of the priest’s hand on his back.
He moved his head, ready to thank him—and was surprised by what he saw. Antoine’s pinkish eyes were stretched in shock, and the soft lips amid the white beard were parted. Midhat took a deep, resigned breath. But his initial assumption—that the priest thought he was mad—faded as Antoine’s expression of terror transformed into one of searching, the pupils flicking side to side as he switched his focus between Midhat’s eyes. The adhan started.
“Are you all right?” said Midhat.
“Baba,” said Ghada.
“Yes, habibti.”
Ghada stood and wiped the back of her dress.
“Yes yes,” said Midhat. “Yalla, we’re going home.”
Looking back he caught a tiny contraction of the priest’s eyelids, which did not close completely, but rather, like the lens of a camera, reset their focus. Antoine nodded. He retracted his hand.
“God,” he said, raising the hand in farewell. He did not complete the phrase.
Key events in the development of the Palestinian and Syrian national movements
1882–1903 First wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around thirty-five thousand Jewish immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, settle in Palestine and establish agricultural enterprises.
1904–1914 Second wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah): around forty thousand immigrants with a strong ideological commitment to Zionism arrive in Palestine.
1911 Foundation of the Arab nationalist organisation al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) in Paris.
1913
18–23 June Arab National Congress: Arab reformist organisations and students living in Paris meet in the hall of the French Geographical Society to discuss the future of the region in the face of Ottoman policy, increased Zionist settlement, and British and French colonial interests.
1914
2 August Ottoman-German Alliance: Ottoman Empire secretly agrees to enter the war in alliance with the Central Powers once Germany declares war on Russia.
6–10 September Miracle of the Marne: First World War battle fought along the Marne River in France resulting in an Allied victory against German armies.
29 October Ottoman Empire officially enters the First World War.
1915
17 Feb (–9 Jan 1916) Dardanelles Campaign: British and French military campaign on the Gallipoli peninsula against the Ottoman Empire, resulting in an Ottoman victory.
24 April (–1917) Armenian Genocide: Ottoman government systematically exterminates and deports its Armenian population.