the magic figure

In a night so brilliant with stars where the glow-worms in the shrill dry grass gave back their ghostly mauve lambence to the sky there was nothing else to do but sit by her side, stroking that dark head of beautiful hair and saying nothing.
Lawrence Durrell, Justine

At the centre of attention is Musallam Bahait al Mahri, an ancient, leathery man who is brought in by his 17 year old grandson, Salim Eisa Saab. He can’t hear very well, or see for that matter, so you have to shout at him repeatedly, and our voices bounce off plywood and into the dull heat of the desert outside. If you asked the Mahris how old he was they would probably say 100, but that’s a magic figure given to anyone very old. His glazed eyes light up with the news from far away that we bring, and eventually his khanjar is paraded around, the pride and joy of his life. And with good reason – this was a very special one. Inscribed in the silver sheath was the name of its maker, Mohammed Ahmed Bagatiyan, from Hadramaut in Yemen, and the date 1379. Musallam says that it has been passed down through his family from one generation to the next, and that they are originally from al Ghayda in Yemen, now spread out over Mazyouna, Towsinat, Hador, Aybut, Harwiw and Dalkut.

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