Translating Al-Fuzai’s ’The Passage of Time’

Abstract

In ’The Passage of Time,’1 a teacher considers resigning in order to return to his hometown, but he receives notice that he can move to the place he has requested. Homesickness is treated as though it were a formidable foe in this short story. Even if it is a "barren, parched desert," like the situation in the story, identity is usually linked to the location to which it belongs. However, it is possible that one will have to relocate for few reasons. Displacement can have emotional and psychological implications, which can hinder one's ability to work. The teacher in the story is not in a teaching mode; he is drawn “toward the place...” from which “a considerable distance...2 separates him.” All he has left are "his ideas and memories" that bind him to his home. The memo he receives at the end of this story represents a new hope for him to reclaim what he has lost in his village education. In brief, the story emphasizes the necessity of having a job and the difficulty of finding a good job in one's own neighborhood.