Receiving the Men
FICTION
by Zulaikha Yusuf
Deep in thought, Shamsa stood before her mirror, gazing at her reflection. She ran her fingers over the deep, coarse wrinkles lining her face. In a fluid motion, she pulled on her abaya, and she left the house.
On her way to the beach, she knocked on her neighbors’ doors, asking each to accompany her to receive the men returning from their pearl diving trip.
At the seaside, the women gathered with their children, all brightly colored with gold in their traditional costumes, and waited for the men to return. The sun passed slowly overhead, yet they waited, longer than ever before, until the children’s cries rose above the waves. Long, somber shadows fell over the women’s expectant faces.
The sun sank beneath the massive gulf’s dark outline. The women stared. The sea stared back, black and empty.
The pearl divers had still not returned.
(translated from the Arabic by Essam M. Al-Jassim)
Zulaikha Yusuf is an Emirati short story writer. Many of her stories have appeared in local and regional literary papers. “Receiving the Men” originally appeared in Arabic in Alkhaleej (The Gulf), a newspaper in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on October 9, 2009.
Essam M. Al-Jassim is a writer and translator based in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia. He taught English for many years at Royal Commission schools in Jubail. Al-Jassim received his bachelor’s degree in foreign languages and education from King Faisal University, Hofuf. His translations have appeared in a variety of Arabic and English-language literary journals.
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