As I’ve mentioned in the past, I made a pact with Justin to read everything on my bedside stand. Just recently, I finished a few books by Yasmina Khadra (In the Name of God, Morituri, Wolf Dreams). The “she” is actually a “he” by the name of Mohammad Moulessehoul, a former Algerian military officer who adopted a female pseudonym to avoid military censorship. He is slowly gaining notoriety in the United States - especially with The Attack, The Sirens of Baghdad and Swallows of Kabul. Currently in exile in France, he has a beautiful, lyrical style of writing, and, in my opinion, he is the first writer to effectively explain how individuals falls into Islamic fundamentalism. His writing is so lovely that I find myself copying out passages in his books to keep with me to reread later.

Here is such a passage. Taken from In the Name of God, it touches on hope, which I think is something this world needs a little more of these days.

“To hope means to wait for a miracle to happen, Yusef. And miracles have to be made to happen. Someone who really wants to get there can’t wait. Time doesn’t wait. It only grants its favours to the tireless runners. In the marathon imposed on us by the taghout - since this is a war of attrition - each stride we take must be negotiated with the utmost rigour and calculation. We must leave nothing to chance. If chance is on our side, there’s no guarantee that it will continue to be so. Chance is only with the tireless runners. That’s why they succeed in turning the tables, in catching the world off-guard. It’s true that one sometimes needs a helping hand from fate. But fate only assists visionary opportunists. Chance is a comet which we must, if not track down, at least intercept. If it passes us by, we lose face for eternity” (p. 156).