TRANSLATED FROM ARABIC BY ZAINAB AL QAISI
My name is Ahmad. I was born in 1943 in Jaffa, Palestine.
I am five years old!
I learned to plow the land and care for olive and orange trees. My father observed my swift intelligence and promised to send me to the Kuttab* because, as he articulates, I possess a mature mind.
I spent a long time counting the days until I grew older.