Abdulrazak Gurnah

Ud-al-qamari: its fragrance comes back to me at odd times,
unexpectedly, like a fragment of a voice or the memory of my
be!oved's arm on my neck. Every Idd I used to prepare an
incense- burner and walk around my house with it, waving
clouds of perfume into its deepest corners, pacing the labours
it had taken me to possess such beautiful things, rejoicing in the
pleasure they brought to me and to my loved ones - incenseburner in one hand and a brass dish filled with ud in the other;