Quotes from Fadia Faqir

You don't liberate a country standing on the soil of another.

Her tears were not for public consumption, she used to say. (216)

A single slim trunk Branches that bow in a storm Green, leathery leaves with a soft centre Glittering against blue sky White bark scarred, bleeding Heart wide-open Bandaged, but upright she stands... (225)

Here we are! Shooting stars. Shooting stars? They burn. Fleeting glimpse. We become human as we fall.

How did I find myself here? Me—the man who wanted to walk around the world? On foot, no less. I wanted to be Passepartout, a traveller with little luggage, hopping from one train to another, a Thomas Cook, an Ibn Battuta. Where is Xanadu?

What is this thing that makes us human? Birth, heartbreak, a desire for safety and order? Is it anger, shame, or fear? What we desire is unattainable and although we know it, we keep striving for it. Sisyphus, the Greek god, and all that.

How did I find myself here? Me—the man who wanted to walk around the world? On foot, no less. I wanted to be Passepartout, a traveller with little luggage, a Thomas Cook, an Ibn Battuta. Where is Xanadu?

I lived in my head most of the time— a lonely and messed up place —and suddenly there was a higher force called Allah I could lean on. A companion, who'd travel with me this road less trodden... My life. Islam means surrendering yourself to God.