I was in the store across from my old house, donuts were on the counter, spongy, warm, and so fresh, but when I reached for my money, Sudanese coins fell from my pocket. I opened my eyes and night poured in…Well, it’s the middle of our 34th Day, is it possible?…Fortunately now the days go by easily, but in the beginning, each day seemed like a year…aware of each step, always awaiting the next.
-Letter from Daoud to Yousef
By days and steps, that is how we measured the Darb. Also by the phases of the moon, and the slackening of the goatskins, and the distemper of the drovers, but for the Khawajas, by the clarity of our dreams…Daoud’s of a donut, mine of a baguette. If we’d told the others, they would have laughed and said, Al-Nāyim Huwa Sultān, The Sleeper is a Sultan…Why waste your wishes on a bakery?