When the firman strikes, the faqra says, the tomb of Nabi Yunus, the prophet Jonah, will be destroyed. Sacred sites will be reduced to ruins. Many will die; others will experience such brutality that they will wish they had. “I see men, armed and trained, their hearts of stone I see my village burn, my home razed, Cries of the elderly, hills of bone.” Everyone in the room is silent. Some are weeping without a sound. No one dares to interrupt. “The day they come to kill us run to the mountain. Do not go near the water, river, well nor fountain.”
