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A Baghdad Bookseller, Bound to His Country
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Beyond shelves filled with history, philosophy and translations of Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy, another customer perused a book titled "Understanding Poetry."
"When I finish my masters, I'm going to get a PhD," said Mahmoud Khudr Juma, 34. "I am going to teach Arabic literature to serve my society. It is important to preserve our heritage."
He bought the poetry book. But it won't nourish just his mind. He anticipates lending it to at least a dozen classmates, who, in exchange, will lend him their books.
One Who Doesn't Bend
On a recent day, Nabil walked past the high, yellow stone wall of Cairo's renowned al-Azhar mosque and headed into the Turkish Alley district. With more than 100 bookstores and colorful billboards, the bustling enclave evoked Mutanabi Street in its glory.
"I feel joy because I love this world," Nabil said. "I also feel pain, for what has become of us and of Mutanabi Street, which was once a center for civilization."
He stopped at one store and ordered Islamic history books, Korans, cookbooks and computer guides to send to Baghdad. Then he walked to a shop named al-Aatik, meaning one who doesn't bend or retreat in the face of obstacles. It sold Iraqi works, including legal and medical textbooks and a popular history of Baghdad.
"It is as if I am shopping for my home, for my family," he said.
Later that night, as always, Nabil called Mohammad's son Ahmed, now 8, who is living in Damascus and still asks, "Where's my father?"
"I have started planting in his mind, with the help of his mother, that he loves books and bookstores," said Nabil, who has adopted Ahmed. "So he will carry on the history and glory of his father and his grandfather Hayawi."
Recently, a top Cairo surgeon told Nabil that a nerve could be transplanted from his leg to try to heal his left arm but that he might not walk again. And his throat, inflamed by shrapnel, could not be operated on until he was stronger.
An influential cleric in Beirut offered to help him gain asylum in Europe, with its state-of-the art medical treatment and majestic bookstores on elegant, peaceful boulevards.
Nabil refused.
