Al-Bouhadidi translates as “Don’t forget what you say.”

The novel “Don’t Forget What You Say” by the Moroccan writer Chouaib Halifi has been translated into Spanish, encouraging the narrative work to cross the shores of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to become in the language of the Iberians “no olvides lo que dices”, which is the first Spanish edition that was recently published by the Spanish publishing house Diwan in Madrid, by Miloud El Bouhadidi, professor of Spanish language and literature in the Department of Spanish Studies and its head at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech.

An introductory paper received by Hespress indicates that the translator, Miloud Al-Bouhadidi, was able to tighten his grip on the secrets of the intertwined meanings and connotations within a wonderful narrative in this novel, which won the National Novel Prize in Morocco 2020.

According to the same source, “it is known that all the novels of the writer Shaib Halifi are an integrated, precise and studied mixture of the imaginary that digs, through the details of daily life, into the local and national memory,” adding that “they are texts that, the more deeply their topics are dug, the more their language rises and escapes from the hands of those who do not master the art of diving with their heads held high.”

The aforementioned document continued: “Whoever approaches it in order to delve into its meanings and the implications of its spiral story must be familiar with the writer’s linguistic dictionary, the degrees of suggestion, and the outlets and purposes of interpretation therein.”

In the introduction to the translation written by Dr. Aisha Al-Maati, it is stated: “The choice of the author and the novel by the translator Miloud Al-Bouhadidi is by no means a coincidence; rather, it is the result of a comprehensive study of the panorama of contemporary Moroccan novel production… (And Shaib Halifi) is a committed author whose novels constantly delve into the depths of Moroccan history, society, culture, and collective and individual memory.”

The specialized academic continued, explaining: “Halli never stops launching his wonderful journeys from Settat, extending the journey towards Morocco, which is diverse and varied, visible and hidden, real and imagined… to preserve the eternal dream of humanity through creativity.”