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The Deewani words were sinking into my mind as they spoke to me
in between the rower's "Ya Allah!" --"O Allah!"-- and the ocean
sound lapping:
"[Allah] makes the night go in the day and makes the
day go in the night. And he has subjected the sun and
the moon. Each running on a fixed course for an
appointed term."(Qur'an)
I was stunned to realize that because of the rotation of the earth,
Muslims were constantly praying in succession around the world.
Depending on their time zones, they prayed the same salaat several
hours sooner or later than another group, in a counterclockwise
pattern. Yet they all faced the same direction, Mecca, in a perfect
unison. All over the world now waves of followers performed
wudu and laid a clean mat on the ground, praying one of the five
obligatory prayers of the day.
I thought about these words over and over again in a new light.
These words were calling from fourteen centuries earlier; they
taught us that the world turns once bright and dark every twenty
four hours like a veil passing around the earth. Muslims knew that
the earth was conceived as round since the seventh century although
other nations still believed the earth was flat. No wonder they had
become great scientists!
Djiddah's silhouetted globe
Suddenly the barge seemed to go up and down. My spirit
sailed through the blue and green pitching of its arcs. I hesitated.
Should I leave my rocky country behind or should I return? I had
one of these irrational moments of hesitation we all feel when we are
faced with a situation we lose grip of. Some call it culture shock.
With one of my hands I was now touching the wall that separated
me from this new country. I let it rest a minute on the shore,
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strangely surprised by the mysterious difference of the surrounding
world. Suddenly, I realized: it was much too late to go back!
My heart quivered a little anxiously in my chest, but in fact it was
out of sheer excitement. I had been raised near the cemetery of the
sea where the ships' masts resemble crosses and I would journey
where the crescent and the star compete with each other to be
placed near the "God of the Worlds." I would know later that I did
the right choice. The country was all I had imagined and did not
correspond to anything I had ever seen. The open bareness of the
land and the people were in fact more than valuable, they were
beautiful. In this way and towards the people of Jidda, I would do
my pilgrimage…
I stopped short in the middle of my pondering. Now, I
was back to reality and I was feeling a little exhausted. I looked
around. A boy was crouching on a flight of steps below the bridge
the crew used to unload the boat. He was alone, closed up in his
own world. He reminded me of myself at that moment. I
remember how touched I was to witness this shadow of a boy so
grave in his prayers, so lonely. In his fingers, he held beads of black
coral particular to this region. His hands manipulated the rosary
with infinite delicacy, indicating that he was taking his time with
God; he probably recited many words over each bead. The spot
he had chosen for his devotions was concealed from the street. It
was a place where anyone could enjoy moments of privacy in the
middle of the town, at arm length of the busy people on the quay.
Around him, the reflections of the seawater looked like light blue
lassos of the purest emerald.
I signaled the boat captain that I would stay for a moment on the
staircase; I was feeling like talking to that boy. I sat on the lowest
step, diving my head into the calm waters of the port.
Lord, I felt so hot! It occurred to me that the lowest temperature
recorded in Jiddah was fifty-four degrees Fahrenheit. The heat
added to my confusion of mind. I had more doubts: could I adapt
to this country, to the bareness inland so much in contrast to the
green landscapes of the coastline? Could I adapt to the culture as
well? This experience was not a dream… it was for real!
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