Quotes from Laila Lalami

Now he wanted that which had always been my own—my story. Tell

Telling a story is like sowing a seed—you always hope to see it become a beautiful tree, with firm roots and branches that soar up in the sky. But it is a peculiar sowing, for you will never know whether your seed sprouts or dies. Later

It is easy to blame the cacique, Tahacha said. But he is only a man; he derives his power from other men, who will follow him for only as long as they believe in him. It

Instead, I had been pushed further and further into a fate from which no escape or reprieve seemed possible. And so there came a moment when I stopped struggling, when I decided that I would cease making any more plans to return to the old days. I made up my mind to look upon the present as exactly what it was: it was all I had. To add to my sense that my curse had turned into a blessing, not only was I free—I was no longer alone.

He, too, wanted to tell the story of our adventure in his own way. Praise

The elders teach us: be a trickster, and you will survive.

You miss Azemmur, she said. Yes, I said. And I have grown so used to the pain of missing it that sometimes I feel as though I have learnt to walk after an imputation. But now, Oyomasot, it is as if I can sense that severed limb again.

Religion, unlike faith, emphasized strict adherence to texts, and failure to abide by them was perceived as a moral failure.

From that blighted time came the saying: when bellies speak, reason is lost.

Of all the contracts I had signed, this was perhaps the only one that my father could never have imagined me signing, for it traded what should never be traded. It delivered me into the unknown and erased my father's name. I could not know that this was just the first of many erasures.

so this desertion was nothing more than the last rebellion of the doomed, like the lambs that stagger back on their feet after their throats have been cut. In

But he is only a man; he derives his power from other men, who will follow him for only as long as they believe in him.

I know now that these conquerors, like many others before them, and no doubt like others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it.

He warned me that trade would open the door to greed and greed was an inconsiderate guest; it would bring its evil relations with it.

Yet despite half a century of intervention in Muslim-majority countries—and interruption of their political destinies—this woman was still confused about ISIS. The hegemony that her country exercised gave her the privilege of being ignorant about other nations, other peoples, other faiths.

Pavo Real was the nickname Señor Dorantes had given to Señor Narváez, because the governor took as careful care of his appearance as a peacock. But my master had no nickname for me. A nickname is something you use to tease someone, whether out of spite or out of affection, whereas all the things he called me were said without a hint of humor or irony; El Moro, El Negro, El Arabe. On most days, he did not even call me anything. He did not need to - I was always right behind him.

The sultan of our kingdom, the governor of our province, and the nobles of our city - they all owned slaves. I ignored the teachings of our Messenger, that all men are brothers, and that there is no difference among them save in the goodness of their actions. With neither care nor deliberation, I consigned these three men to a life of slavery and went to the tavern to celebrate.

but pain is a private business

All I ever wanted was to keep my family together.

my heart was aching from hearing my daughters fight

The Requerimiento and Its Interpreters" by Lewis Hanke in Revista de Historia de América.

There was a mathematical elegance to faith like this: believe in God, follow His rules, and you will be rewarded; disbelieve, disobey, and you will be punished.

How hard the believers make it to get into heaven, I thought, when they have all this right here.

Just by saying something was so, they believed that it was. I now know that these conquerors, like many before them, and no doubt like others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it.