A great deal of extra activity characterizes the souks of the Muslim world in Ramadan. The hustle and bustle of the day is multiplied in the cooler hours of the night. The fierce glare of the sun is replaced by Ramadan lanterns and the light is soon soft and dreamy.
The mood becomes vaguely romantic — but we live in such unromantic times that it takes a massive dose of incredulity to make the night feel as it should. Just as you slide into some escapist mode, reality hits with a blow. A man with a crow in a cage approached me as I got out of my car. There are many people selling birds in cages all over town but that was the first one I had seen one peddling a crow.
As in many other cultures, crows are not a favorite among Arabs. I have personally seen enough National Geographic documentaries about crows, however, to know that they are intelligent, noisy and much maligned creatures.
A few years ago, an official at the US Consulate in Jeddah wondered what to do about the hundreds of noisy, dirty crows in the grounds of the consulate. He told me that he had heard that — and I quote — “Tina Turner music drives them away.” I was fascinated by the idea and he promised to try it. A certain event, unfortunately, on a day in September put Tina and the crows on the backburner.
I asked the seller about his bird. Why a crow? Did he think anyone would buy it? Most people have an aversion to crows and are superstitious about them. Besides, there was nothing unusual about the bird that would attract a buyer; it was simply a normal crow. He smiled and said, “I will tell you what this bird is not and you judge if you want to buy it.” Seemed fair enough to me so I listened. “He is not a pigeon so he will not defecate thirty times a minute. He is not a chicken so you cannot eat him. He is not a duck so he will not jump into your pool or tub. He is not a parrot so he cannot talk and broadcast all your secrets for your wife to hear. He is not white so you need not wash him. He is not a canary so his screeching is natural. Above all, he has no sense of loyalty so when he flies away, there is nothing personal in it.”
I did not buy the crow but promised the young man a recommendation if he ever applied for a regular job.
Of course you recognize that the man used the classic “via negativa” to prove something. Philosophers and theologians, especially the latter, have long been fond of using this to prove or identify something by telling you what it is not.
The young man’s spiel told me nothing except that he was selling a bird unlike any other bird that I might buy. Logically speaking, I should have bought the crow if I found the others worth my while.
Perhaps this is the way we should write about political leaders. Since not much is allowed in the normal way of writing, what if I told you that some of our leaders are not Mother Teresa? What if I added that the gun Yasser Arafat so pompously sports, on his less than seemly hip, is used more against his Palestinian and Arab foes than against the Israelis? Get the picture?
