Morning and Evening Talk

Ha’

Hanuma Hussein Qabil

THE YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF SAMIRA and Hussein Qabil, she was born and grew up in the house on Ibn Khaldun Street. Her beauty was like her mother’s and she was tall, slim, and intelligent, had firmly held morals and principles, and was very similar to her younger brother, Salim. She excelled at school and enrolled in the French language department of the faculty of arts. She was enthusiastic about the July Revolution as a movement for reform and morality but changed her mind when it sentenced Salim to jail and did not hesitate to criticize Hakim for supporting it. She graduated from college and went into radio, thanks to her good results on the one hand, and Hakim’s recommendation on the other. Sadriya’s son Aql wanted to marry her but she rejected him on account of her height and his shortness. “We would make a ridiculous sight walking down the street together,” she told her mother. She agreed to marry Nadir, for he had a good job, was good looking, and she thought highly of his morals. They lived their life together in an elegant apartment on Hasan Sabri Street in Zamalek and she gave birth to Samira, Radia, and Safa. When his deviation came to light, she raised a violent storm, which Nadir had not expected from his life partner. She told him frankly, “I refuse to go on living with a man who has clearly gone astray.” Samira hated the idea of divorce and tried to convince her that it was not her responsibility, that she must weigh up the consequences of her decision for her daughters. But she said to her mother, “He is diminished in my opinion and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

The dispute thus ended in divorce. Hanuma kept the daughters with her in the apartment in Zamalek and brought them up in her image without once regretting her harsh decision. The days went by and the time came for the girls to marry. However, rising costs and the problem of obtaining an apartment made marriage complicated. Nadir overcame all the difficulties by buying an apartment for each daughter and properly furnishing them. “He’s their father and he’s responsible for them,” Hanuma said to console herself.

But she could not ignore the bitter truth that, were it not for his unlawful money, it would have been hard for any of the daughters to settle in a marital home. She asked herself with deep regret, Isn’t it possible to lead a respectable life anymore?