Mohammed Amin... Published the novel 'As If the Wind Were Beneath Me'

Syrian journalist Muhammad Amin has published his novel “As If the Wind Were Beneath Me” through Dar Ninoq for Studies, Publishing and Distribution in Damascus. The novel takes the February 2023 earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria as a pivotal moment, revealing the lives of characters already burdened by fear and displacement, foremost among them Mahmoud al-Gharib and Nada al-Shawa.

The novel’s title is not a casual choice; it evokes the poet al-Mutanabbi’s line: “On unease as if the wind were beneath me / I turn my face south or north.” Here, however, the anxiety shifts from the poet’s movement and wandering to an existential condition experienced by Syrians, for whom the ground beneath them is no longer stable, neither geographically nor psychologically. The title alludes to the disorientation of Syrians after years of war and displacement eroded the meaning of place, with the earthquake further compounding the loss of certainty. The work also demonstrates Amin’s transition from the language of journalism to a broader literary space.