Dhulma

In the streets of Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, the lives of three young people-Badar, Karim, and Fauzia-are shaped by unpredictable events. Badar, a poor young man with no roots or education, finds himself in a world of people with power and wealth. As a servant, luck changes for him when he meets Karim, the ambitious son of a landlady, who has big dreams and expectations. At the same time, Fauzia, still weighed down by the challenges of childhood, is searching for a way out.

These young people, with different dreams but intertwined fates, go through a journey of love, work, and parenthood, while their friendship is tested by greed, fear, economic and technological changes, and ultimately-betrayal. Does our destiny depend on the status of our birth, or can we rewrite it? Indeed, this narrative takes us on a journey through the lives of those seeking their place in a rapidly changing, ruthless world, indifferent to where they come from.

This is the translation of Abdulrazak Gurnah's first novel after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021. Dr. Ida Hadjivayanis is a Senior Lecturer in Swahili Studies at SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London. This is her second translation of Abdulrazak Gurnah's novels, following her translation of Peponi.

Katika mitaa ya Zanzibar na Dar es Salaam, maisha ya vijana watatu-Badar, Karim, na Fauzia-yanasukwa na matukio yasiyotabirika. Badar, kijana maskini asiye na mizizi wala elimu, anajikuta katika dunia ya watu wenye mamlaka na mali. Akiwa mtumishi, bahati inampiga mawimbi anapokutana na Karim-kijana wa mama mwenye nyumba, mwenye ndoto na matarajio

makubwa. Wakati huo huo, Fauzia, bado akiwa kaelemewa na changamoto za utotoni, anatafuta njia ya kujinasua. Vijana hawa wenye njozi tofauti lakini mustakabali uliofungamana, wanapita kwenye safari ya mapenzi, kazi na uzazi, huku urafiki wao ukijaribiwa na tamaa, hofu, mabadiliko ya kiuchumi na teknolojia na hatimaye-usaliti. Je, hatima yetu huamuliwa na hadhi ya kuzaliwa kwetu, au tunaweza kuiandika upya? Hakika simulizi hii inatupeleka kwenye safari ya maisha ya wale wanaotafuta nafasi yao katika ulimwengu unaobadilika haraka, usio na huruma na wenye dhulma bila kujali walipotoka. Hii ni Tafsiri ya Riwaya ya Kwanza ya Abdulrazak Gurnah baada ya kutunukiwa Tuzo ya Nobel ya Fashi ya mwaka 2021.

Dkt. Ida Hadjivayanis ni Mhadhiri Mwandamizi wa Masomo ya Kiswahili SOAS (The School of Oriental and African Studies) Chuo Kikuu cha London. Hii ni tafsiri yake ya pili kwa riwaya za Abdulrazak Gurnah ikitanguliwa na riwaya ya Peponi.