30 The Old Man’s Dream

حلم الشيخ العجوز

Tamanrasset |

Algeria

Arabic

Behind the scenes

The inspiration for this text came to me during a night spent in the Sahara, far from any city or tourist area, as I slept under the stars with a Tuareg family.

In these vast, silent spaces, it becomes easier to reflect on the meaning of life, the passage of time, and destiny.

I wanted to explore this unsettling idea: in our minds, we often struggle to accept aging. And yet, one day or another, an external sign reminds us of time passing – a glance, a body growing tired, familiar faces beginning to change.

In the story, the narrator comes to understand that there is a time for everything: his has not yet come, while that of the old wise man is drawing to a close.

In these harsh lands, people seem to carry a particularly deep wisdom, shaped by nature and by the impossibility of controlling it.

Echoes of the world

The title of the text contains a central word: شيخ (shaykh). In Arabic, it can mean “old man,” “wise man,” or “leader.” In many desert cultures, age is not only a sign of decline, but also of experience and knowledge of life.

In the text, we also find the expression الصحراء الكبرى (as-sah-ra al-kub-ra), which literally means “the great desert” – what the world knows as the Sahara.

Arabic also has a highly visual script: words unfold in long, flowing lines that almost resemble the undulating movement of sand dunes.

Finally, the expression الشاي المغلي (ash-shay al-magh-lee) – “boiling tea” – evokes an essential ritual in Saharan cultures: offering tea is a gesture of hospitality and a moment of pause within the vastness of the desert.