This week, we continue our foray into Ibrahim al-Koni’s Al Majus or The Animists, this time visiting the Oasis of Waw, a legendary oasis from Tuareg folklore. Waw is a lost paradise, one of those place mentioned in folklore as accessible only to those it chooses to reveal itself to. In Tuareg philosophy, as described by the author, there are two Waws – the Terrestrial Waw and the Celestial Waw. The Terrestrial Waw is any place of refuge – man made or otherwise – from the harshness of the desert’s innocent and yet unrelenting cruelty.
The Celestial Waw is a place of unsurpassed beauty and abundance, populated by kind and generous people who will share all their bounty with you, on the condition that you take nothing with you when you leave.
The Celestial Waw is an example of an unattainable ideal sought after by arrogant young men who eventually bow in humility before it and spend the rest of their lives contemplating the folly of their presumption. al-Koni dedicates a whole chapter of the book to two different versions of the legend of Waw, one of which we will read today. In this version, a merchant finds and then loses the Celestial Waw because he broke the place’s primary rule – leave it as you found it.
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References
al-Koni, Ibrahim. The Fetishists. N.p., University of Texas Press, 2019. pp235-245
Sound Effects
SSE Library: WATER - FLOW/WATRFlow_Slow river; small water movement_CS_USC
Spectacular Sound Effects - Vol. 2 - 48. Birds - Nightingale
The Terrestrial and Celestial Waw