I lived in Cairo 2004-2005, attending the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) program and interning at the UNESCO Cairo Office. Toward the end of my time in Cairo, a story I wrote in Arabic won first place in a writing contest. I’m sharing it with you here, with elegant English translation by Lily Sadowsky. Check out the PDF copy here for the original Arabic and the English translation together. Enjoy!

Moment of Thought

by Melanie Magidow

Translated from the Arabic by Lily Sadowsky

Salma sat, gazing from behind the mashrabiyya at the constant movement in the street. There were so many shops, for everything she had desired since she was a child: scented soaps, colorfully wrapped chocolates, apples, dresses in every color of the rainbow. She felt the fabric of her clothing, new and elegant, and recalled the simple black clothes her mother wore.

She spotted a group of kids running from the candy store to the school and placed her hand on her belly. She was expecting. She remembered the days when, as a child, she would walk to the mountains to gather firewood. She hadn’t learned to read or write, but she’d enjoyed cooking and tending the goats, listening to her mom’s conversations with the other women and hearing her grandmother’s stories on a cold winter night. How will she pass this heritage on to her child? she wondered.

In the city, at school, her kid would learn the subjects she hadn’t been able to study from the teachers she hadn’t been able to have. Tending goats, life in the village—her child would learn about those things over breaks, when she hoped they would visit her family and be able to enjoy the animals and nature.

On the one hand, the city offers many benefits to a child. It’s full of different cultures, diverse languages, and numerous opportunities to enrich one’s experience and refine one’s education. On the other, the child could pick up bad habits from strangers or forget the family’s fundamental ideas about morality and humanity. That would devastate Salma for the rest of her life. “Don’t worry,” she said to herself. “Every place has its advantages and disadvantages. Children need family to tell good from bad, and others to round out their character—just as trees need both sun and water, even when the sun beats down and the rain pours.”

At that moment of thought, Salma saw a young man helping an older couple (his grandparents, perhaps) as they entered the mosque to pray. Salma smiled and whispered, “Ya rabb!”

Author’s Note

Ya rabb! is a quick call on the divine. In this case, it’s hopeful because Salma sees a young person being helpful and hopes that her child will be helpful too when they’re at that age.

Translator Biography

Lily Sadowsky is an editorial assistant and translator from Los Angeles, CA. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Her translations have appeared in the Common, in the Markaz Review, in ArabLit Quarterly, and at the inaugural Bila Hudood: Arabic Literature Everywhere festival.