Alaa Al Aswany - The Yacoubian Building: A Novel (Busayna & Taha) lyrics

This excerpt is from pages 21-22 of the Humphrey Davies translation of Alaa Al Aswany's novel The Yacoubian Building. You can read the dialog at the corresponding moment in the Marwan Hamed movie here also. It occurred to Taha that he had a whole hour ahead of him before the exam and he decided that he would take a cab for fear of spoiling his suit on the crowded buses. He wished he could spend the remaining time with Busayna. Their agreed method was that he should pa** in front of the Shanan clothing store where she worked; when she saw him she would ask permission from Mr. Talal , the owner, to leave, using the excuse that she had to fetch something or other form the storeroom, and then catch up with him at their favorite place in the new garden in Tawfikiya Square. Taha did the usual routine and sat there for about a quarter of an hour before Busayna appeared. At the sight of her, he felt his heart beating heard. He loved the way she walked, moving with small, slow steps, looking at the ground, and giving the impression that she was embarra**ed or for some reason regretful, or was walking over a fragile surface with extreme care, so as not to break it with her footsteps. Noticing that she was wearing the tight-fitting red dress that revealed the details of her body and whose wide and low-cut front showed her full breasts, he experienced a surge of anger and remembered that he had quarreled with her before in an attempt to make her stop wearing it. However, he suppressed his annoyance, not wishing to spoil the occasion, and she smiled, showing her small, white, regular teeth and the two wonderful dimples on either side of her mouth and lips, which she had painted dark red. She sat down next to him on the low marble garden wall, turned toward him and looked at him, with her wide seemingly astonished honey-colored eyes and said, “What a dandy!” He answered in an urgent whisper, “I'm going for the character interview now and I wanted to see you.” “The Lord be with you!” said Busayna with true tenderness. His heart beat hard and at that moment he wished he could clasp her to his chest. “Are you scared?” she asked. “I have placed myself in the hands of God, Almighty and Glorious, and whatever Our Lord may do I shall gladly accept, God willing.” He spoke fast, as though he had prepared the answer ahead of time or as though he was trying to convince himself of his own words. He was silent for a moment, then went on gently, looking into her eyes, “Pray for me.” “The Lord grant you success, Taha,” she exclaimed warmly . Then she went on, as though she had gone too far in showing her feelings, “I have to go now because Mr. Talal is waiting for me.” As she withdrew, he tried to make her stay, but she put out her hand and shook his, her eyes avoiding him, and said in an ordinary, formal way, “Best of luck.” Later, when he was sitting in the taxi, Taha reflected that Busyna's attitude toward him had changed and there was no point in ignoring it…