Happiness

"Happiness" - Naguib Mahfouz
(from Echoes of an Autobiography)


I returned to the old street after a long absence to attend a funeral.
No trace worth mentioning remained of its golden form.
On its two sides, towering buildings had replaced the villas, and it was crammed full of cars, dust, and turbulent waves of human beings.
With a feeling of great pride, I remembered its radiant appearance and the aroma of jasmine.
I remembered the beautiful girl who appeared at the window, casting her radiance on the passersby.
Who knows where lies her happy tomb in the city of the departed? There come to me now the words of the wise friend: "The first love is but a training that benefits the lucky ones who attain the love of God."