The Man Who Limped

In old Jerusalem, Hamed the dragoman looks back on the reckless youth that shaped his life. Once Hamed the Attar, a prosperous perfumer and proud misogynist, he had spent years resisting women's charms—until a moonlit glance over a wall shattered his certainty. There he saw Salamah Khatun, a noble beauty trapped by family pressure and a cousin's claim to her hand, and his desire turned instantly into obsession. What follows is a comic-romantic courtship shadowed by danger. Hamed slips into her quarters, declares his love, and showers her with gifts, while she demands a marriage that will protect her honor and safety. Their plan leads him on a lavish journey toward Damascus, only for the road to turn treacherous in a scene of drugged coffee, hallucination, and betrayal. Bound in the desert, he faces a grotesque mockery of justice, where law, greed, and violence strip him of everything and leave him mutilated. Yet the tale does not end in ruin. Hamed survives, recovers, rebuilds his life, and finally finds hard-won happiness in an unexpected marriage, telling his story with irony, resilience, and sharp humor about love, women, and fate. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.