حواء

The poem named « Hawwa » is signed in Arabic because I am quoting her name from the Quran. For the borders of both images I wrote Hawwa’s name in Tifinagh. The symbol I chose to add on the first page is the sign of the toad from the tribe of Iwaḍiyen. According to Marcel Devulder, in his book Peintures murales et pratiques magiques dans la tribu des Ouadhias, the toad is said to be « a cursed animal, used to separate husband and wife or to make people sick ».

And Adam,
did he break Hawwa’s bones to make her feel smaller?
Was Adam too lazy to carry his privileges
that Hawa had to carry his burdens and hers?
When the apple fell, was Hawa more guilty than Adam?
Was she Ibliss herself?
Tell me the story
Tell me the story again
I knocked on mosques’ doors and I asked:

For how long will I have to carry men’s mistakes, oppression, and apathy?

Were Hawa and Adam the same pure magnificence, made by Allah’s greatness?

Or as men wrote it, was Hawwa just some leftover mud from Adam?

Was she just made to cook, clean, be a wife, and an object of desire?

Or her purpose was only to love her Maker,
and nothing else?

When Allah taught Adam the names of all things
Didn’t God teach him the name of the mother of all humanity?
Didn’t Allah teach him the greatness of womanhood?
Tell me Hawwa wasn’t just some crooked rib, who was created for men to walk over

Tell me the truth
Tell the truth.

When Allah commanded the angels to bow down to Adam,
Did God know that now men would expect a bow for barely existing?
Do men believe Hawwa had to kneel to Adam as well?
Do men believe Hawwa was commanded to shrink and dwindle her body in front of them?

Tell me again how men twist Allah’s words
And tell me about the fire which awaits them.