The Adventures Of Amina Al-Sirafi Quotes
"In these vast marvels, so numerous a human eye cannot gaze upon more than a sliver, is there not proof of His Magnificence?"
"Amina’s story did not end. Verily, no woman’s story does."
"The maps are—and I cannot emphasize this enough—remarkably easy to forge."
"Made of pure iron, it isn’t my sharpest blade and its weight can make it unwieldy."
"I pressed the knife harder as the bismillah left my lips. His flesh sizzled in response, and then he crumpled."
"The grief did not disappear, it did fade."
"It was not enough that I had spent my career trying to keep a ship watertight; no, I had to have a house that wanted to be one with the rain and the sea air, a particular curse in the wet season."
"Sailor or clerk, smuggler or trader—this steady calendar has ruled our lives and those of our ancestors since ancient times."
"The revelation that al-Sirafi was female caused a great deal of turmoil."
"He talked nonstop, relating not only adventure tales but teaching me everything he knew about sailing."
"Amina, this woman has filled your head with such fantasies that you do not see the risks."
"And if something goes wrong? You . . . Amina, you were broken when you finally returned. You barely spoke. You barely ate."
"Money and honor, what fine motivations."
"I will not let a blessing like this slip through my fingers. It is one job. Just one job and we shall never have to worry about money again, God willing."
"You are an excellent judge of risk. Your problem is that you run toward it."
"I can’t this time. I promised my mother and daughter that I’d come home safe."
"You want to risk coming to the attention of our world’s most notorious criminal gang for a better understanding of geography?"
"You do not need men for companionship. And Kamran tried to stab you. Twice."
"Ah. What can I tell a collector of tales about Yemen, that most glorious and blessed land, that they do not already know?"
"You are bold to assume such a priority in my life."
"My heart panged. I was trying to preoccupy myself with work, but I could not go an hour without thoughts of Marjana, and the sight of any child made me ache."
"I praised God under my breath, my soul eased at the sight of my first love, at the ship I’d have cast all my ex-husbands overboard to save."
"‘Those men would probably die of shame before allowing their wives to take a lover, but force yourself on a girl who has no say because you bought her and suddenly all is fine and permissible before God.’"
"‘You cannot save them all.’ Indeed, the men were already exchanging coins and leading the girl away."
"Do not scream. I have no interest in harming you, but if you cry for help, by the time it arrives, you will be dead, and I will be gone."
"Being cynical has kept me out of prison. How has being naïve worked for you?"
"I prayed I could be that person again."
"There is a great vulnerability in being entirely at God’s mercy."
"And the truth was that Frankish kidnapper or no Frankish kidnapper, I had desperately missed this life."
"My own life had taught me that true magic is rare, much rarer than people would believe, but also deadlier."
"A gem believed to bestow upon its owner countless wishes, supernatural sight, and unending good fortune."
"We all love a good tale of blood and treasure."
"The largest pearl in the world; a miniature moon said to have been snatched from the sky by a lovelorn fairy and gifted to Queen Bilqis, who made it the centerpiece of her crown."
"Delighted to meet her lunar admirer, Bilqis made the pearl the center of her diadem."
"We were hired for a job under false pretenses."
"You fool. You absolute fucking idiot. How had this gone so wrong, so fast?"
"I could kill you right now and be gone."
"Dunya has been obsessed with our family’s lore since she was a child."
"You will return to your own family a wealthy woman."
"It looked less like a library and more like the crowded den of a master of the occult sciences."
"Dunya said the Moon would 'sleep until the Day of Judgment, guarded by white snakes and hidden behind a veil of water that never saw the sky.'"
"I am not an easy woman to shock. I’m a sinner very much relying on the 'Most Merciful' aspect of my Lord."
"No wonder Salima had dismissed the prospect of hiring a scholar to look through these materials; at this point I could hardly blame her for wanting to keep her family’s eccentricities discreet."
"Of my companions, Tinbu was my most trusted sailor and Dalila was . . . well, Dalila. But Majed had been with me the longest. If any of them were family to me, it was Majed."
"Dreams are for young men. And fools."
"God has given me a brilliant wife, healthy children, and mostly honest work. I ask for nothing else."
"Let’s talk about the night I accidentally married a demon."
"The stars spread before me, twinkling and inconceivably vast against the soft velvet night."
"It was one thing to read about this place in a book, but to see the history of travelers and sailors such as me spread before us, their ghosts and the walls they touched, was another experience altogether."
"There is power in human ambition. Sustenance in desire."
"While I am contracted with you—married—you will always have that favorable wind you need."
"Confidence is not the same as arrogance."
"Help me end these wars forever and set things right in a new world."
"What if you stopped concerning yourself with what God thought altogether?"
"Looking backward serves no purpose."
"Names are for tombstones. And us? We are not yet dead."
"A life at sea often attracts those who don’t fit in."
"God, please have mercy on me once more."
"Surely there is a way to stop him."
"It means that discord is the purpose of my existence."
"I still mean what I said the night we first met: your ambitions are a feast."
"There are some hungers I cannot deny. It’s what I am."
"It was like gazing at the night sky, more stars appearing the longer you looked."
"The Maker prioritizes justice and the preservation of lives before order."
"Objects that bridge the realms, mostly between that of the human world and various magical ones."
"It’s all really quite impressive. And intimidating when you think upon their possibility of chaos."
"You are changed. You likely began that transformation the moment you stepped on these shores."
"You are now in your own way . . . A Transgression."
"There had to be at least a dozen loopholes in those words, a hundred ways this could all go terribly wrong."
"Living things did not enjoy being enslaved."
"The pirate representatives themselves were even more magnificently intimidating."
"The Sea Witch of Sur, the Harlot of Horse Thieves . . . so you do exist."
"I decapitated him with a single blow."
"I would do what needed to be done to put a stop to it."
"The marid looked intimidating earlier, that was nothing to how it compared now, surging through the breaking waves."
"The door called to me like the ghost of a lover."
"I am sorry, my friend. I am so sorry."
"To the eternal waters of chaos we go."
"Let God Himself tremble at the world I will build!"
"You’re bleeding like a sieve, and this isn’t the first supernatural entity I’ve had to bargain with this week."
"And here I thought you liked your women fierce."
"Then until we meet again, God willing."
"The sea seemed to undulate and roll, a great blue watery beast stretching its legs."
"God did not mean all dreams to be chased. Sometimes people must hide their hearts to survive, to honor their family."
"There was and was not a nakhudha named Amina al-Sirafi who sailed with a cunning crew all over the great Indian Ocean..."
"But that, dear sisters, is a story for another night."