Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him.

The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don't like to read.

She was the trembler of knees, the spiller of teacups.

He stopped, turned. He cupped his hands around his mouth. ''For you a thousand times over!'' he said. Then he smiled his Hassan smile and disappeared around the corner.

Give sustenance, Allah. Give sustenance to me.

He is annoyed with their lack of interest, their blithe ignorance of the arbitrary genetic lottery that has granted them their privileged lives.

Equally important is the lack of cultivable land for farmers, a profound problem when you take into account that Afghanistan has always largely been an agricultural country, and that even before the wars destroyed lands and irrigation canals, only 5 per cent of the land was cultivable.