I am now writing about Yalo, which you raised to the top of a bottle and called it the throne. Yalo on the throne, as if he were the king of the dead. Yes, sir, I see him dead, and a dead person does not write because he dies.
When you asked him to write his life story, you were wrong. Yalo cannot write because he is in another place, where they do not write. I, Daniel, write, and I will write everything you want about him, about me, and about all people. As for Yalo, no. I want to be frank with you and say that Yalo left me and went far away. I am body and he is spirit. I'm in pain as he flies. I got off the bottle, but he sits on the throne.

الياس خوري روائي لبناني، من مواليد بيروت 1948، رئيس تحرير مجلّة «الدراسات الفلسطينيَّة»، وأستاذ في جامعة نيويورك. تُرجمت رواياته إلى العديد من اللّغات.