The novel (Sandal Perfume) is a new novel by the writer Salah Maati

Damascus-SANA

The novel "Sandal Perfume" by the writer Salah Maati starts from a love story to the concerns of the human being associated with his homeland, bringing together the public and private affairs, emphasizing the importance of love and loyalty to build societies and nations.

The author’s use of the sandalwood tree in the title of his novel indicates the ancient cultivation of this tree with a breathtaking smell, which is used extensively in medicine in the land of Sudan, as if he wanted to link nature with the reality of man today.

The protagonist of the novel, “Abu El-Naga,” is an Egyptian man of Sudanese origin who went through difficult circumstances and left and abandoned a lot and lived a love story with a girl since his youth that left a great impact on his whole life.

But love becomes nothing but a detail of sandalwood perfume, because the protagonist of the novel continued to feel that he belongs to Sudan, which is going through difficult circumstances and attempts to divide it, so he lived obsessed with defending his homeland and holding on to it in the face of long conspiracies.

Abul-Naga’s childhood memories fade from the places in which he lived and the people he befriended, and when he travels to Sudan, his country of origin, his longing for Egypt remains, but he realizes that this land is one irrigated by a great river that linked the destinies of its children throughout history.

The novel expands to link the emotional state with the political issue, especially with its hero Abu al-Naga going to Khartoum and then traveling to the south, which separated from Sudan, to show, in an artistic way, the dire consequences of the fragmentation of the one country, so that drought and aridity expand and poverty increases in severity. It also shows what attempts to separate Darfur from the motherland have left Loss of safety and the spread of crime in this spot.

The novel issued by Dar Akl for publication, study and translation, Maati leaves the field of pain open at its conclusion to draw the reader to all its events and pain.

Despite the affiliational issues in the novel, the writer's control remained clear in moving the characters and their roles in a way that provokes emotion and raises many questions that lead them to answer them logically.

The novel, published by Dar Akl for printing, publishing and translation in Syria, is 176 pages long. It is considered the first Arab novel that raised the issue of Darfur's secession and pointed to its current and future effects on the region.

 Muhammad Khaled Al-Khidr

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