- ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Barakah Sākin (1963-, Sudan) – Samāhānī (‘Forgive me’, 2017). In the year of 1652 the Ottoman Kalief invades what is now called Tanzania, enslaving its inhabitants. The Kalief rapes and impregnates one of his slaves who ends up giving birth to a boy: Ibn al-Kalba (‘son of a bitch’). The boy becomes a soldier and works at the caliph’s palace, where he rapes and kills his daughter as a revenge for his mother and his country. The title of the novel refers to the local pronunciation of the Arabic ‘Sāmiḥnī’ meaning ‘forgive me’, which is what Ibn al-Kalba said to the corpse (reference) (also in H: Historical Novels: Historical Novels on Slavery).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Ḥussayn, Haytham. 2017. “‘Samāhānī’ li-Baraka Sākin… fī Andalus Ifriqiyyā.” www.almodon.com, 15 September 2017, https://www.almodon.com/culture/2017/9/15/%D8%B3%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%84%D8%B3-%D8%A5%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7 (last accessed 21 November 2021)