The elephant labored and gave birth to a mouse, I mean, I rode a camel to Egypt and sold a donkey to the Egyptians.
-Letter to KhairAllah
We talked often of elephants and mice on the Darb. Some of us smoked Abu Fīl cigarettes, Father of the Elephant, and KhairAllah was funny when he imitated the squeaking of a mouse on the run. We also said that Egyptian camel merchants were all donkeys. They rode them, they too were stubborn, and when I dismounted in their midst after forty days, they asked if I would sell my donkey pad before they asked my name.