A Word on the Opening of a New House for the Word
After more than six years of unrelenting labor — years in which not a single moment of planning or revision came to rest, and in which the will to reshape my literary heritage in a spirit befitting our age, without forsaking its authenticity, never faltered — it gives me great pleasure to present to the honored reader the new digital garment of my works, on my literary and cultural website. I did not wish this website to be a set of fleeting pages on a screen. I wanted it to be a house where the beautiful word resides, a platform wide enough for thought, a space where literature meets culture and knowledge — a place where the reader finds original texts, humane visions, and literary experiences that open onto many languages and cultures without ever abandoning their Arab identity or forsaking their roots. This long journey could not have been completed without, first, the grace of God, and then the generosity of a distinguished circle of children, friends, and colleagues who believed in the idea from its earliest days and labored patiently until it turned from a dream into reality. To all of them, my sincere thanks and deep appreciation: The technical team, headed by:- Engineer Fayez Numan Albarbari
- Engineer Zahera Numan Albarbari
- Dr. Nonsia Deeb
- Dr. Khouloud Ali
- Frau Jooß
The Author, Numan Albarbari
Numan Albarbari
is a Syrian writer and man of letters, currently residing in Backnang, in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
He writes in both Arabic and German, dedicating himself with particular passion to literary essays, socially engaged novels, and psychologically inspired narratives. His pedagogical experience is reflected in his work, allowing him to capture with rare depth the human soul, poised between the individual and society.
His literary output is conceived as a cultural bridge between East and West. Rooted in a life journey marked by ruptures and transformations, his writing unites the values of tradition and openness. Albarbari’s texts aspire to preserve, in a world of constant change, universal human and educational ideals, while renewing themselves in the literary realm.
For the translation of this novel from its original language, Arabic, into other languages, some electronic programs were employed, in an attempt to convey words and meanings to the reader with the utmost clarity. Nevertheless, some subtle nuances may have been lost, and certain images or phrasings may have shed the delicacy and depth they originally held. I therefore leave space for the reader’s mind and taste—to read between the lines, to feel the emotions, and to connect the events and ideas as they were intertwined in the author’s mind and in the text. It is the passionate reader who completes the story, who breathes true life into the words, and who transforms them into a unique experience that blends understanding with feeling.
Author’s Note
These novels are works of fiction. Their characters and events have been woven from the fabric of imagination, unfolding in a realm where reality and dream converge, where memory and imagination intertwine, and where truth reaches toward the horizon of possibility.
Should certain details or scenes bear a resemblance to events that have taken place at some point in time or in some corner of the world, such parallels are no more than a reflection of literature’s nature. Literature draws upon the shared experience of humanity and listens to its enduring questions, without seeking to recount actual events or portray identifiable individuals.
All names, nicknames, and characters appearing in these novels are entirely fictional. They have been created solely to shape the narrative world and to serve its artistic design. Any resemblance to living or deceased persons is purely coincidental and entirely unintended. Likewise, nothing in these works is meant to disparage any individual or institution, nor to allude—whether directly or indirectly—to any specific real-life event.
What lies between the covers of each of these books is neither a record of facts nor a chronicle of history. It is a journey in search of the human condition—through moments of joy and fracture, through emotions that transcend time and place, through questions that never cease to echo, and through stories in which readers may glimpse reflections of themselves, without those stories belonging to any one person in particular.
Echo (A Story)
