Translated by Isa Kamari from his own Malay novel, The Throne
Chapter 4
Hey, the morning breaks!
Hey, the faithful sun!
Hey, the disappearing dew!
Hey, the layered air!
The breath desires, the soul asks,
Who do you greet,
Have you pondered sons of Adam?
Death awaits, life prolongs.
Have you realized progenies of Eve
The earth is impregnated and layered by purpose?
The one that you welcome is the morning.
The one that you coax is the sun.
The one that you touch gently is the dew.
The one that you breathe is the air.
The gift of death, life fulfilled
Accompanies the inevitable:
Morning, sun, dew and air,
A breath dissipates, a soul obliterates.
Nothingness.
Gone.
Hey!
“Hey, open the door! Open quick! Police!” Hard knocks could be heard on the door.
I was awakened from sleep and looked at the wall clock. It was three o’clock in the morning. I saw Father approaching the door. As I was sleeping in the main hall, I stood up. Mother and all my siblings also got up from bed.
Father opened the door. Three policemen stood outside. He was with them. His hands were handcuffed.
“Where’s his room?” asked the sergeant policeman.
“What’s the matter, Sir?”
“Where’s his room?” he asked again with a loud voice. Father pointed to it. The other two policemen moved inside quickly. The sergeant guarded him.
“What’s the matter, Son?” asked mother with a sad voice. He did not answer.
“We arrested him because he was carrying a dagger. It’s stained in blood.”
“God forgive me!” cried Mother. Her body felt limp and fell onto the sofa. “What have you done, Son?” asked Mother in tears.
“Later today he will be brought to the Courts. Uncle and auntie, you can both meet him at Toa Payoh police station in the afternoon. Tonight, he will be locked up. He’s under police investigation.”
“Oh, God! What has befallen upon you, Son? wailed Mother. Father shook his head. Then he flared out in anger.
“Haven’t you anything better to do? You’re always bringing trouble to the family.”
My siblings and I observed the scene in disbelief and with anxiety.
“Why are the police ransacking his room?” asked Mother.
“He’s stoned. His slurred voice is a that of an addict. We’re searching for drugs.”
“God forgive me!” cried Mother.
“What actually happened sergeant?” asked Father.
“We suspect he’s involved in a robbery. Someone is hurt. We’re still investigating.”
“Robbery? God forgive me!”
The two policemen appeared after searching high and low in his room. They shook their heads. The sergeant nodded. Both Father and Mother heaved a long sigh of relief.
“Alright. We’ll take him back to the police station. It’s a pity, at such a young age he’s involved in a crime. His future is bleak.”
Mother wept after hearing the sergeant speak her son’s doom. “Son, how could you?” she wept.
Father just stood motionless. He was confused, helpless. The three policemen briskly stepped out of the house with him.
He glanced at us – we were still anxious, confused and bewildered with shock. His face looked empty. He seemed resigned to the situation and sighed in regret. We were uncertain whether it was towards us or at himself.
That morning we were rudely awakened by an incident that shook our conscience and sliced our feelings sharply and deeply. It was still dark outside. The sun had not risen.
.
Click here to access Chapter 1 of The Throne.
Click here to access Chapter 2 of The Throne
Click here to access Chapter 3 of The Throne
Isa Kamari has written 12 novels, 3 collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, a book of essays on Singapore Malay poetry, a collection of theatre scripts and lyrics of 3 music albums, all in Malay. His novels have been translated into English, Turkish, Urdu, Arabic, Indonesian, Jawi, Russian, French, Spanish, Korean, Azerbaijan and Mandarin. Several of his essays and selected poems have been translated into English. Isa was conferred the S.E.A Write Award from Thailand (2006), the Singapore Cultural Medallion (2007), the Anugerah Tun Seri Lanang (2009) from the Singapore Malay Language Council, and the Mastera Literary Award (2018) from Brunei Darussalam.
He obtained a BArch (Hons) from the National University of Singapore in 1989, an MPhil (Malay Letters) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2008 and is currently pursuing a PhD programme at the Academy of Islamic Studies, Univeristi Malaya. His area of research is on the problem of alienation and the practice of firasat (spiritual intuition) in selected Singapore Malay novels.
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