Birds of Nabaa is a tale of physical and spiritual journeys,
beginning in Nabaa, a remote Mauritanian village, whose herds lead
the community according to their own inscrutable instincts, to life
in Madrid, the Gulf states and Guinea, where the narrator's work as
an embassy accountant takes him, and to Mauritania's capital
Nouakchott. Inspired by the Sahara of his childhood and devoted
from an early age to the vagabond life of the pre-Islamic poets,
the narrator's constant life on the move in search of the inner
stillness known only to desert dwellers leads him back always to
the music, song and poetry so much a part of Mauritanian life and
the spiritual universe of Sufism. The mix of diverse characters
joining him includes Teresa, his Brazilian neighbour in Madrid whom
he taught to make tea the Mauritanian way; Rajab the inspiring
teacher in a blue face veil; Hussein the poet; Mariam, a postman
between the living and the dead via cowrie shell readings; the
exiled judge of Chinguetti; as well as his close friend the
voracious reader and rebel Abdurrahman who wants to change the
world, Abdel Hadi, the holy-fool sheikh with an encyclopaedic
knowledge of Arab history and poetry, and Ould al-Taher, the first
climate-change refugee. The narrator's travels take him to the
village of Kanz al-Asrar near a tributary of the Senegal River, an
area so fertile it is like a lush paradise. However, two and more
years without any rain create drought, wells dry out, livelihoods
shatter, and dreams turn to disturbing nightmarish premonitions of
disaster. The burning fire of the sun is winning its eternal
struggle with the hidden water that the clouds plant in the depths
of the sand. As desertification takes hold, that paradise of
southern Mauritania and of Nabaa gradually declines and the waves
of migration, always a feature of life in the Sahara, intensify.
General
| Imprint: |
Banipal Books
|
| Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
| Release date: |
September 2023 |
| Authors: |
Abdallah Uld Mohamadi Bah
|
| Translators: |
Raphael Cohen
|
| Dimensions: |
198 x 129 x 14mm (L x W x T) |
| Pages: |
192 |
| ISBN-13: |
978-1-913043-43-8 |
| Subtitles: |
Arabic
|
| Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
| LSN: |
1-913043-43-6 |
| Barcode: |
9781913043438 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(7)
(1)
(1)
