Min Zaman

An Egyptian-Arabic confession that contradicts itself on purpose. He wishes he could tell her that he is tired, that he tried everything without her, and that he never saw her, never knew her, never heard her voice, and that not even her shadow crossed his mind. Then he swears, with the heaviest oath he knows, that he did not think of her for a moment, a second, a day, a week, a month or a year, since long ago. Everything he thought and dreamed about, he adds, was that she would be with him, in his arms and beside him, that her voice would fill his life, her words his ears, her shadow his eyes and her scent his nose. He asks whether she would be upset if he said it. A spoken passage argues that a man has a heart and a mind, and may not always be in his right mind, but that he loves her all the same. The words "since long ago" come back as a hook.