Dan Williams (2)

VERY short book (5 minute read)- nonetheless beautiful watercolours accompany a moving text, as a father (widowed in the Syrian conflict) leaves the carnage of Homs with his young son for a better life.
Memories of the past, things the child was too young to know - "the creek where your uncles and I built a thousand boyhood dams" -but then came "the sky spitting bombs...you have learned dark blood is better news than bright."
And the prayer ends as they flee: "we are a flyspeck in the heaving show more waters, pitching and tilting, easily swallowed."

Wouldn't recommend as an e-book: you need the printed version for optimum appreciation. show less

Do you remember the photograph of the three year old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean in 2015?

Author Khaled Hosseini imagined this wonderful prose poem with thoughts such a boy’s father may have had the night before attempting the dangerous crossing. The father remembers his homeland as he grew up in a time of peace and grieves that his son will never have those same memories. He remembers the bombs and the boy’s mother who is no more.

And most of all, he prays that the sea show more and Allah will give them safe passage

“Because you,
You are precious cargo, Marwan,
the most precious there ever was.

Inshalah.

I pray that the sea knows this”.

A beautifully illustrated book that will take you only a few minutes to read, but a lifetime to remember. show less

You’ll remember the heartbreaking photo of 2-year-old Syrian refugee, Alan Kurdi, in a red t-shirt, washed up on a beach on 2 September 2015, after an overloaded inflatable boat capsized.

The image, and story behind it, impelled Khaled Hosseini, born in Afghanistan, to write this lyrical book in aid of UNHCR and his own foundation. It’s not Alan’s story, but probably similar to his. The beautiful pictures are by Dan Williams, who illustrated an extract of A Thousand Splendid Suns; I show more reviewed the unillustrated version HERE.

A father is addressing his son, Marwan. He starts with rich memories of the beauty and peace of life in the boy’s grandfather’s farmhouse.

Image: A watercolour of the countryside, “the sun a pale rim of persimmon to the east”.

Homs was happy too:
“In its bustling Old City,
a mosque for us Muslims,
a church for our Christian neighbours,
and a grand souk for us all
to haggle over gold pendants and
fresh produce and bridal dresses.”

He’s sad Marwan is too young to remember that time, which is “like some long-dissolved rumour”, overtaken by protests, siege, bombs, starvations, and death - “These are the things you know”.

They flee, anxiously waiting on a cold beach, in search of home, in a world that doesn’t want them. The father promises his son that nothing bad will happen, knowing full well that these are just words, and he’s powerless to ensure their truth. But he prays to God and he prays that the sea knows the prayer, and how precious its cargo is.

Image: The father cradles his son

Suitable for ages 6 to 96.

See also

There’s no quick or easy solution, but I do think it’s worth reminding ourselves of individual stories of fellow human beings, including children.

• You can view a 7-minute animation of this story (different illustrations), narrated by Adeel Akhtar, on the Guardian website, HERE. It's an 360 degree format, so even better on phone or tablet.

• The 2019 film, Midnight Traveler, in which a family film their journey to legal asylum in Europe, on phones, over a few years is fascinating, powerful, sad, funny, and uplifting. See imdb HERE, and Wikipedia HERE.

• Brian Bilston’s very clever poem, Refugees, has been published in illustrated form. You can read the whole poem and see some of the pictures in my review, HERE. show less

Uma Prece ao Mar é um pequeno livro escrito por Khaled Hosseini, maravilhosamente ilustrado por Dan Williams e traduzido por Manuela Madureira.

O escritor inspirou-se na história de um menino sírio de 3 anos, Alan Kurdi, que morreu no mar Mediterrâneo quando fugia com a família, em busca de um porto de abrigo na Europa. É também dedicado a milhares de refugiados que morreram ao fugirem da guerra e da perseguição nos seus países.

Narrado de uma forma poética, em que as imagens valem show more por muitas palavras, este é um livro enternecedor, que facilmente nos faz chorar.

Conta a história de um pai que, enquanto espera o barco que lhes poderá devolver a esperança, vai embalando o filho e reconfortando-o com histórias da sua própria infância feliz, quando se divertia a ser criança com os irmãos na casa de quinta do avô.
Mas o balido das cabras, o som dos tachos da avó, o ar fresco e o sol, as frutas, as flores, os passeios do filho com a mãe, o som das represas e regatos, os passeios pelas mesquitas repletas de vida de Homs, deram lugar aos protestos, ao cerco, às bombas, à fome, aos funerais, aos escombros de um passado que ruiu.
Na praia escura e fria, aguardam um barco que os possa salvar. Este pai sente-se dilacerado pela fé que o filho deposita nele e resta-lhe apenas rezar pela "carga mais preciosa de sempre", que a embarcação transportará, o filho.
É impossível não se ficar comovido, não sofrer com este pai. Tão lindos os sentimentos numa realidade tão dura e cruel. show less