Alaa Gaafar

“الناس لاتبوح بأسرارها للأصدقاء وإنما للغرباء في القطارات أو المقاهي العابرة”
― بهاء طاهر

“Does God exist?
Unlike many people, this had not been the great inner debate of her life. Under the old Communist regime, the official line in schools had been that life ended with death, and she had gotten used to the idea. On the other hand, her parents’ generation and her grandparents’ generation still went to church, said prayers, and went on pilgrimages, and were utterly convinced that God listened to what they said.
At twenty-four, having experienced everything she could experience—and that was no small achievement—Veronika was almost certain that everything ended with death. That is why she had chosen suicide: freedom at last. Eternal oblivion.
In her heart of hearts, though, there was still a doubt: What if God did exist? Thousands of years of civilization had made of suicide a taboo, an affront to all religious codes: Man struggles to survive, not to succumb. The human race must procreate. Society needs workers. A couple has to have a reason to stay together, even when love has ceased to exist, and a country needs soldiers, politicians and artists.
If God exists, and I truly don’t believe he does, he will know that there are limits to human understanding. He was the one who created this confusion in which there is poverty, injustice, greed, and loneliness. He doubtless had the best of intentions, but the results have proved disastrous; if God exists, he will be generous with those creatures who chose to leave this Earth early, and he might even apologize for having made us spend time here.
To hell with taboos and superstitions. Her devout mother would say: “God knows the past, the present, and the future.” In that case, he had placed her in this world in the full knowledge that she would end up killing herself, and he would not be shocked by her actions.
Veronika began to feel a slight nausea, which became rapidly more intense.”
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die

“آلاف من الناس يُصفعون كل يوم ولكن قليلاً منهم من يشعر بالإهانة أو الغضب”
― بهاء طاهر, قالت ضحى

“ليس فقركم ذنبنا!ألا تفهمين بعد أنكم تدفعون ثمن حماقتكم و غبائكم و خنوعكم؟ عندما كان أباؤنا يقتنصون الفرص كان أباؤكم يقفون أمام طوابير الرواتب في المصالح الحكومية ، ثم لم تعد هناك مصالح حكومية. لم تعد هناك رواتب.أنتم لم تفهموا اللعبة مبكرا لهذا هويتم من أعلى إلى حيث لا يوجد قاع. ما ذنبنا نحن؟ عندما هب الجميع ثائرين في كل قطر في الأرض هززتم أنتم رءوسكم و تذرعتم بالإيمان و الرضا بما قسم لكم. تدينكم زائف تبررون به ضعفكم.”
― أحمد خالد توفيق, يوتوبيا