Maghreb—Dusk (also refers to sunset prayer).
Majlis—Men’s parlor.
Masha’Allah—God made it so (used to express awe or to rebut a compliment to avoid accidentally giving something the evil eye).
Mashrabia—Carved woodwork usually placed over a window; historically used to allow women to look out of the harem but no one to look in.
Mawwāl—Arabic song introduction during which the vocalist pronounces vowels for longer than usual.
Moda—The fashion. If something is Al-Moda it’s in style.
Niqab—A common type of face veil.
Oud—Sandalwood.
Qasida (s.) / Qasaid (pl.)—Traditional Arabic ode in tripartite structure.
Rakat—Units of prayer.
Shaabi—Adjective meaning “folk,” or sometimes “street.”
Shadafa—Bidet-like spray hose found in most Middle Eastern toilets.
Shahada—The Muslim declaration of witness that there is no God but God and Mohamed is his prophet.
Shala—Long black scarf worn by women in the Gulf to cover their hair and boofs.
Shaytan—Devil.
Saksuka—Goatee.
Simsar—Egyptian slang for real-estate agent.
Sirwal—Underwear.
Souq—Marketplace.
Thobe—Men’s long white dress worn in the Gulf region.
Ya ain ya layl—A common Arabic phrase used to introduce a poetic narrative and in music to provide the base from which to improvise the entrance into a song.
Yalla—Come on! A phrase commonly shouted by extras in Hollywood films depicting Arabic-speaking rabble.
Yawm Al-Qiyamah—Judgment Day.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Love to my mother and father and sister and siblings and family and tribe for being the rich and loving quarry from which this book was mined.
I owe the existence of this book in particular to these three people:
Michael Vazquez, Shumon Basar, and Peter Webber.
Thanks to Bidoun magazine for the years they helped me try out and refine ideas, Deena Chalabi for being a second brain when I needed one, and Wassan Al-Khudhairi for all her support.
Thank you to my agents, Kevin Conroy Scott and Sophie Lambert, who offered advice and space and fought for more time whenever it was needed. Also, to my surrogate Gulfie Qabila, who are a constant inspiration: Amal Khalaf, Fatima Al-Qadiri, Hamida Al-Kuwari, Talal Obeid, Manal Al-Dowayan, Rana Jubara, Khalid Al-Gharaballi, Fatima Al-Mostafawi, Sheyma Buali, Mohamed Al-Ibrahim, the Al-Humaidi sisters, Aziz Al-Qatemi and Abdulla Al-Misnad.
Thanks to Chris Kyung for the beautiful map. Love to the Sulkosky fort and the Carmichael base. A big thank-you to everyone who read, gave notes, edited, or listened to me moan, from the earliest scraps of the proposal to the final drafts: Jaime Tung, Malak Helmy, Ben Robinson, Marika Lyandysu, Alexander Provan, Simeon Roos-Evstes, Anand Balakrishnan, Philip Chaffee, and Lena Tutanjian. A major debt is owed to Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa Al Thani for making many of my abandoned dreams come true quite by chance.
And finally, to Sensei for keeping his Secret so well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SOPHIA AL-MARIA is an artist, writer, and filmmaker. She studied comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, and aural and visual cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her work has been exhibited at the Sharjah biennale, Art Dubai, the New Museum in New York, and the Architectural Association in London. Her writing has appeared in Harper’s, Five Dials, Triple Canopy, and Bidoun. She works at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar, where she researches Gulf futurism.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
COPYRIGHT
Cover design by Milan Bozic
Cover Illustrations © Christopher Kyung
This is a work of nonfiction. The events and experiences I have detailed herein have been faithfully rendered as I remember them and as they have been told to me. In some places, I’ve changed the names, identities, and other specifics of individuals who have played a role in my life in order to protect their privacy.
THE GIRL WHO FELL TO EARTH. Copyright © 2012 by Sophia Al-Maria. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
Map on page ii by Christopher Kyung.
FIRST EDITION
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-06-199975-8
Epub Edition © DECEMBER 2012 ISBN: 9780062098740
12 13 14 15 16 OV/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au/
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com
The Girl Who Fell to Earth Page 22