The Theocrat: A Modern Arabic Novel (Modern Arabic Literature) Read Online Free Page A

full abundance of my own duplicity and instant revenge.
    3.
    I have demolished the buttresses and horizons of all those who have placed themselves above me; at my hands they have been totally shattered. With great determination I have recovered my throne. I have traveled through the tunnels of my reign and my intrigues in quest of tremors and shivering. I have established my shadow wherever I went and created within my homeland a history for my swords. How happy I am at what clings to me: stories that delight me so about the volcano of my followers; a voice with prophetic impact; a happy omen.
    It is fine for me to devote myself to exploration and physiognomy; it is fine to love and harass; fine too is every rift, every pass, every inundation.
    I sweep things away, I dominate, then I return to the serenity of the desert that forewarns of the storm to come; I go back to the sand preface that forewarns of the storm to come.
    Ribbons of Values
    You ask me about the reasoning behind my penchant for destroying monuments and values. My response (take it away and reflect on it) is: any-one who does not destroy does not know the meaning of building; anyone who does not practice evil cannot do good.
    The person who can only look at something from one aspect is short-sighted and unperceptive. He remains stuck in a single dimension, extolling monotony and fading into oblivion along with it.
    Anyone who does not carry excess to its uttermost limit comes close to the regions of whiteness and indolence. What an idiot!
    The Logic of Intrigues
    Every one of us is the other’s heretic!
    So we are all heretics, fosterers of deviance and heresy. We are all heads, fascinated by the definition of proofs, adopting them as our own passions. We all follow the religion of emergence.
    After God Himself your deity is your desires, except for those who are content to crawl and hide inside the trunk of their own shadows, covering their eyes with their hands and beseeching God to protect them from the possibility of chickens laying their eggs or of dynamic action against everything that is stagnant and cumbersome.
    How Close to Me Are My Enemies!
    The murder of confidants and insiders is definitely the best plan. Failing that, no despot can expect a stable rule, even if he behaves justly.
    If the caliph fails to treat as enemies the people who enabled him to gain power, by adopting a neutral stance coupled with excessive caution, he will control neither custom nor authority. He should do his utmost to intimidate them and keep them at a distance; then they will not try to share his grasp on power.
    There will be no peace for the caliph if he is not permanently suspicious of everyone; he must lop off his own shadow if it seems strange or ambiguous.
    The caliph will never endure if he does not keep changing the list of his confidants and protectors, just as a snake keeps changing its skin.
    Why Are You Not Satisfied?
    The dust of the earth, that is the only thing that can fill the stomachs of human beings, except those on whom God shows His mercy! I have designated large swaths of terrain for you—Alexandria, al-Buhayra, and their environs—and filled your guts with a whole variety of things, enough to baffle the mind of the chief treasurer.
    So why do you make a religion out of gluttony and greed? Why do you keep the gates of your own appetites and passions so wide open?
    By God, if only you realized that each duty, each gift, each bribe I offer you out of my own abundant generosity is simply a debt I hold against you, one that ties your neck firmly to my authority and your loyalty to me. If you were even aware of that fact, you would hold a race to see who could run away from both me and my gifts the fastest. But you are like a load of rams, unaware and stupid.
    Argue with Me, and I Will Take Pity on You
    How extensive and fulsome are your talents for prostration and submission! In giving the matter due thought I have concluded that for you contentment