19. Saddam Hussein’s Maudlin Love Story
Zabibah and the King, a convoluted love story, was written in 2000, and set in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit in the seventh or eighth century AD. The main characters are Zabibah, a beautiful commoner; her perverted and cruel husband; and a powerful and handsome ruler named Hussein. Each night, the stunningly beautiful and brilliant Zabibah is summoned to Hussein’s palace. Borrowing from Arabian Nights, she fobs him off of feasting on her succulent body by giving long political speeches. Inevitably, Hussein’s attention wanders from Zabibah’s mind to her hot body, and he develops an unquenchable lust for her.
Her perverted husband, fond of orgies and money and deviant explicit practices, is unhappy with the developing relationship between his wife and King Hussein. So hubby disguises himself and assaults Zabibah as she walks home from the palace one night. It was a means of shaming her that makes sense within the cultural context of Iraqi tribal society and honor code. Hussein however loves Zabibah too much to let the shame destroy the romance. So he goes after the perpetrator. After a series of adventures, Zabibah leads an army, is mortally wounded in battle, and dies while proclaiming Arab nationalism with her last breath. Hussein goes on to capture and exterminate the perpetrator, and thus avenges Zabibah’s honor.