Originally published in Arabic in 1964, Tayeb Salih's short story "A Handful of Dates" is about a young Sudanese boy whose loyalty to his grandfather is tested when his grandfather delights in their neighbor's financial ruin. After learning the grandfather has been taking advantage of their indebted neighbor by steadily buying up the man's land, and after seeing his grandfather gleefully humiliate the neighbor during the man's date harvest, the boy feels hatred toward his grandfather. Disavowing his grandfather's greed, the boy runs into the distance and induces vomiting to throw up the handful of dates his grandfather had taken from the neighbor's harvest.
"A Handful of Dates" explores themes of greed, innocence, and empathy. Told from the perspective of an unnamed narrator looking back on his boyhood, the story's narrator often remarks that he doesn't know why he feels certain emotions when exposed to the greed his grandfather's displays. By showing how the boy has visceral reactions that he cannot intellectually explain, Salih stays true to the boy's embodied experience as he loses his innocence and defines himself in contrast to his grandfather.
In 2019, "A Handful of Dates" was adapted for a feature film of the same name directed by Hashim Hassan.
