ABSTRACT
A nephew of Hajj Khalaf, Najm’s family also lived in the village of Hawi Al-Hawa. He describes his life in four long letters, including his childhood in the village and going to school in Raqqa. He studied medicine in Damascus and became one of the first doctors to open a clinic in Raqqa. A man of intellect but also of intense emotions, Dr. Najm’s letters revealed the intimate landscape of tender encounters that is usually absent from ethnographic accounts of young men in the Middle East. As a young man, Dr. Najm married his cousin (the eldest daughter of Hajj Khalaf) as was the wish of his father, but this continued to trouble him as he moved to Damascus to pursue higher studies, and his wife’s village lifestyle conflicted with his professional and personal aspirations. Dr. Najm married a second time, much to his father’s dissatisfaction, and despite his own strong criticism on custom and polygamous marriage.
