I tumbled down the prodigious slope, casting myself on the unstable, rough terrain, which rolled me down, over and over. On reaching the mountain’s foot, I shot off toward the groves but did not reach them, since they were farther than I had anticipated. On the way, I found evidence that creatures inhabited the land. The traces were plentiful, but my eyes discerned not a single animal. When I reached the first clump of green, I found trees there and some shrubs. These all followed the course of a bold stream that gleamed in the sunlight. Water gushed from a natural reservoir to pour into the plain in little rivulets that ran west and east, until the neighboring sandy hills consumed them.
Copious clusters of attractive fruit, which looked delicious, hung from the tops of the trees. I stretched out my hand and plucked a plump fruit the size of my finger from a generous bunch. When I touched it, I found the clear liquid leaking from it was sticky. I popped it into my mouth and started to chew. As it dissolved beneath my tongue, it was so sweet my teeth hurt. It mixed with my saliva and began to course through my body. Chewing on it lazily, I reveled in the unusual taste. I was in no hurry to swallow the morsel, not because I did not feel hungry but because of the obscure sensation the taste awakened in my heart.
I visited the other three springs as well. Around them grew date palms in congenial groupings similar to that surrounding the first spring. From these palms dangled stalks heavy with various types of dates. Beneath the trunks of these lofty palms were scattered dates, some dry and others still fresh. On the damp earth beside the springs were tracks of the animals whose traces I had found by the rivulets rich with vegetation. I could identify them, now that I had jogged my memory, as tracks left by the feet of gazelles, Barbary sheep, hares, lizards, and various types of birds. I did not recognize them merely from their tracks but from the dung pellets distributed everywhere. Flocks of birds flapped their wings as I violated the groves’ sanctuary. They would soar over my head once or twice before flying off, only to land on the canopy of the nearest spring. I encountered a large herd of gazelles in a valley opposite the last spring toward the southeast. Acacia trees proliferated there, and the gazelles roamed among the trees, some grazing off plants on the ground and others craning their necks to reach the top of the acacias and pluck the green leaves. They became skittish when they saw me and joined ranks to form a single herd. This reminded me of the way goats react to the scent of jackals. They watched me with collective curiosity but did not take fright or flee. So I felt certain they had never seen a man before. I stood, admiring the beauty of their eyes, but eventually the herd bolted and dashed away.
I traversed an open area coated with gravel composed of small round, red pebbles until I reached the base of the mountain range. What I had assumed was a sandy slope was actually a genuine mountain scaled by drifting sand. The walls forming this mythic fortress had not originally been ridges of sand but rocky mountains that the sands had seized in crazed raids, submerging the rock. Only the southern barrier had succeeded in resisting their assault, even though the wind had been able to submerge it from the back, as I discovered later.
All along the cliff face there were caves, which seemed, seen from below, to be fabulous mouths. Around their entrances lay many dung pellets, but I did not know a herd of Barbary sheep sheltered there until a huge ram with thick, matted fleece stormed out of a cave and scaled the high rocks in a couple of bounds. He stood looking down on me curiously. When I explored the cave, I discovered that its walls were decorated with numerous colossal figures. These were strangely contrived creatures: legendary animals and women. Men pursued Barbary sheep, or — brandishing spears — danced in groups. There were other creatures concocted by matching men’s bodies with animal heads crowned with horns or with birds’ heads. I stood for a long time examining these unnatural, composite creatures.
These designs coated the cavern from the top of the ceiling to the foot of the sides and extended the length of the rock walls, which were cloaked in darkness they ran so deep inside.
Outside I craned my neck, examining the cliff face, until noon and time for the midday heat. Then I decided to take a break and sought refuge in the nearest cave, where, from the entrance, I found myself facing a shadowy figure I could not make out clearly, since it was so dark; as I leaned against a wall of the cavern to catch my breath, I saw, in the gloomy recesses, two gleaming eyes that reflected the light entering from the cavern’s mouth. I did my best to make out the body but failed, since the gloom was too dense. I closed my eyes to listen, but the timeless stillness swallowed everything. All I could hear was my own breathing.
I was quiet for a time. When I reopened my eyes, I found that they had adjusted sufficiently to the darkness for me to see. The figure stood erect in a corner of the cave, as still as a stone statue. There was a weird, unfathomable gleam to its blazing eyes. It had curving horns like those of a Barbary ram, but its body was that of a gazelle, although of huge proportions. It was gazing at me with intense curiosity, but without moving, shying, or even breathing. It might just as well have been an empty hide. I picked up a small stone and tossed it at the creature, but it did not react, bolt, or take flight. I crept toward it on my hands and knees, narrowing the gap between us. Then I saw its pupils expand and enlarge as the strange gleam of its pupils became more intense. I kept staring, and a secret was awakened in my heart. A sharp odor assailed my nostrils, but I did not look away. I was afflicted by a strange trembling and the mysterious whispering spread to my heart. I deciphered in its eyes a prophetic message, which I read without difficulty, although it was wordless. Involuntarily, I mumbled a cryptic, incomprehensible phrase. I crawled out of the cave on all fours and then attempted to rise to my feet but failed. I was forced to continue crawling. I descended the cliff face, still on all fours. When I reached the base of the mountain, I lay quietly on my back and started to shake. The prophecy was making my head pound. As it matured, I felt dizzy and then nauseous. My heart was awash with whispered temptations, and I began to vomit. I threw up for a long time. Then I went into convulsions. I stroked my chest and found its covering soft to the touch and thick enough to arouse suspicions. When I investigated my leather clothing, I discovered that it adhered to my skin, like skin. I tried to strip it off, but how can you pull skin from skin? I cried out for help but heard only a choking rattle.
The composite apparition with the Barbary ram’s head and gazelle’s body showed me no mercy. It overtook me and stood over my head with its glittering, doubt-provoking eyes. I struggled against my despair and gazed into its eyes. The composite creature gazed right back. I continued staring. The dusky coloring of its eyes became ever more intense and they looked more mysterious. I did not budge while the mystery transmogrified. Once the mystery lifted, the prophecy’s distinguishing features stood out more clearly. In the profound, unfamiliar talisman, I saw myself. The stone eyeball was transformed into the surface of water flowing from Heaven’s spring, Salsabil, and I saw myself clearly in it. I saw I was a monster. I saw I was a freak. I saw I was a creature patched together from two disparate animals. I could not believe that I was still myself, and yet I felt certain my essence had not been destroyed. Only then was I freed. I could feel my body becoming liberated. I regained the ability to stand erect and found that I had the power to speed through the air.
2 Midday
THE POWER THAT ENABLED me to speed through the air helped me mingle with the herds, of which I became a member from that day on. In the lowlands I bounded with the gazelle fawns. I ascended mountain crags with the Barbary sheep kids. I nursed beside them, sucking milk from their mothers’ teats, and we competed for the plants that grew on the plains and for the roots of vegetation on the mountain flanks. We shared the dates strewn beneath the palms. The intimidating gazelle with the horns of a Barbary ram had become a mother and father for me ever since the power spread through my heart the day we met in the cavern. She was a creature endowed with a gazelle’s ability to traverse treacherous sandy plains and a Barbary sheep’s ability to clamber up the highest mountain peaks. To attain the steep flanks of the southern mountain I would cling to her meager tail. I would climb on her back to reach the grazing lands of the sandy plains to the north, east, and west. I hung from her neck, swinging back and forth and amusing myself. I had forgotten. I had forgotten my mission. I did not brood about my true nature; I had even forgotten forgetting.