Before governments announce their stances… the light has already lost its certainty!!
It doesn't go out… but it is no longer as reassuring as it was!!
And this alone… is enough for everything to start!!
Jordanians do not wait for the statement… because the statement always comes after the truth has settled elsewhere:
In the hand… not in the language!!
He enters the corner store…
Not to buy… but to make sure that the light is no longer guaranteed!!
He sees candles… and understands!!
He sees flour… and understands more!!
He sees jameed… and knows that the issue is no longer day by day… but era by era!!
He passes by the gas station…
He sees the gas cans lined up as if they know… as if they preceded speech… as if they are storing something not yet visible… but real enough to be bought!!
He does not ask: What is happening?
Because the question is too late!!
He silently asks: What if the light is no longer as we know it?!
Then…
He shops!!
And at that very moment…
Shopping is no longer an economic act…
but it becomes the first practical definition of conscious fear!!
Jameed returns…
Not because it is food… but because it is a time whose spoilage can be postponed!!
And the oil lantern returns…
Not because it is old… but because it does not submit to anyone!!
As if everything not controlled from afar… is suddenly regained!!
But all of that… revolves around one thing:
The candle!!
It is not just illumination…
but a frank admission that the light is no longer a constant truth!!
When it is lit… it does not just light the room…
but it rearranges the world within its narrow boundaries!!
Within it… everything is under control!!
Outside of it… everything is negotiable!!
And here… the world is divided into two sections, no third:
What is illuminated by permission…
and what is illuminated by decision!!
Jordanians choose… without announcing… without explaining… without waiting for anyone:
They choose to light it by their own decision!!
They do not curse the darkness!!
Because they understood something not written in any statement:
That darkness is not defeated by words!!
It is defeated only… by not leaving it alone!!
He lights his candle… and is silent!!
And that silence — ladies and gentlemen — is the most severe and enduring of curses!!
Because it is the silence of someone who saw the truth… and found no one to say it with him!!
The silence of someone who understands that the world does not go dark all at once… but the light is gradually removed from it… until doubt becomes the normal state!!
Iran lists Jordanian power stations on its lists!!
Not because the Jordanian is a party in the war…
but because it lies in the point through which the electricity passes… not in the point where the decision is made!!
The hospital lit by that station… knows nothing about political geography!!
And the child breathing through a device in it… does not have the luxury to understand why the light might go out!!
But the light… in this world… is not innocent!!
It is granted…
It is calculated…
It is threatened…
And it is used!!
Except in just one case:
When it is lit by a hand that does not wait for permission!!
And here… exactly here… the most dangerous transformation occurs:
The candle which was a detail… becomes a stance!!
And the act which was transient… becomes a definition!!
Jordanians do not buy the candle…
They vote for it!!
They vote for a light they own…
against a light managed away from them!!
Not because the older is better…
But because what is lit here…
is not turned off there!!
The question then… is not why they shop?!
The question:
When did the light lose its certainty… until people began buying its alternative?!
And when did the truth come out of the statements…
and settled in a hand that lights?!
When the corner store issues the official statement…
do not look at the store!!
Look at the moment when the light itself… needed an alternative!!
Because that moment…
is not announced…
is not written…
is not discussed!!
It is bought!!
And it is taken home…
and is put aside…
and waits…
Not for a power outage…
But for a break in trust!!
And when trust breaks…
The light does not go out…
but is redefined!!
And here… only here…
The candle no longer remains a candle!!
It becomes…
smaller…
more dangerous…
and more honest…
a possible definition of sovereignty!!!
