From the book:

Ten days we stayed in the guesthouse, until we were distributed to our workplaces, and so they could exterminate the insects and perhaps even the scorpions from the rooms locked since the Second Gulf War. The generosity of Arab oil hospitality descends upon the hungry mouths, and day after day, freshness began to cover the tired faces, clothing the bodies with flesh, so glory be to the One who gives life to bones while they are decayed! I contemplate others, and this does not mean I did not eat with the eaters, or drink with the drinkers, or favor my nationality, but it is the truth, for I saw those who hid sugar, powdered milk, and even salt in their bags from the guesthouse, it might suffice them for days at the beginning of their stay. I do not blame them, for hunger is the master of infidels! They tried to convince me to imitate them, but I refused. I do not know what stopped me, was it a difference in the degree of hunger?! Or a conviction I inherited?! At that moment, how I loved you, my homeland!

• Publisher: Dar Fadaat for Publishing and Distribution
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Number of Pages: 116
• Edition: Second
• Category: Novels