Death and the Dervish is a timeless novel that explores existential struggles, moral dilemmas, and the human condition through the journey of Ahmed Nuruddin, a Sufi dervish confronting injustice in 18th-century Ottoman Bosnia.

$10

Buy Now

Dervish and Death is a psychological and philosophical work divided into two parts. The first part contains nine chapters, and the second part has seven. Each chapter begins with a verse from the Quran, which introduces the chapter’s theme. The final chapter starts with the same verse as the first, creating a cyclical structure where the end is also a beginning.

The protagonist is the narrator, who speaks in the first person and expresses his reflections on life through inner monologues. The story is his confession, written just before his death. The main character, Ahmed Nurudin, is a forty-year-old dervish living in a tekke (Sufi lodge). His confession begins when he learns that his innocent brother has been arrested and imprisoned in a fortress. He tries to save his brother and uncover the reason for the accusation but fails.

The protagonist has spent most of his life surrounded by walls, isolated from the world. While attempting to free his brother, he believes in the goodness and justice of people. However, his view of the world changes, and he realizes it is not as he once thought. He sees that he, too, has changed, becoming unhappy, insecure, and shaken in his beliefs. Memories of the past resurface, but he tries to suppress them as they remind him of missed opportunities. He seeks inner peace and the meaning of his life, which is the central theme of the novel.

The entire novel is an allegory of a trial in which the protagonist is simultaneously the judge, prosecutor, and defendant, striving to bear witness while remaining honest with himself.

Beyond its psychological themes, Derviš i smrt explores philosophical questions related to politics, society, and human life in general. It also includes an analysis of the political and social conditions in Bosnia during Ottoman rule. The novel’s themes are similar to those in Tvrđava (The Fortress), written by Selimović in 1970.

Novel Summary

Ahmed Nurudin was a sheikh with a firm foundation in faith, living according to the rules of the dervish order. Surrounded by the walls of the tekke, he was convinced that the outside world was orderly and lacked nothing—until a pivotal event changed everything.

The situation shifted when his brother Harun was arrested. In his desire to free his innocent brother and glimpse the world beyond the tekke’s walls, Ahmed began to experience unfamiliar feelings of anxiety, unease, and fear.

He visited the ailing benefactor Alija Džanić, knowing that his son-in-law, the kadi Ajni-efendija, was responsible for Harun’s imprisonment, having issued the arrest order. At the house, he met Alija’s daughter, who had sent a request to the tekke, asking Nurudin to persuade her brother Hasan, the family’s black sheep, to voluntarily relinquish his inheritance.

The daughter’s plea gave Ahmed an opportunity to negotiate for his brother, so he agreed to speak with Hasan. That night, in the tekke’s garden, a fugitive suddenly appeared, fleeing from pursuers. Ahmed found himself witnessing a struggle between the hunted and the hunters. The thought of deciding a man’s fate intrigued him, but it later weighed on him, as he did not want to side with or against the fugitive.

The fugitive hid in an old, overgrown shack. The next morning, Ahmed decided to report him and spoke to a young dervish, Mula-Jusuf, who called the guards, but the fugitive was gone. This fugitive, whom Ahmed named Ishak, reappeared at key moments in the novel, symbolizing a guilty conscience.

On his way back to his lodging, Ahmed was met by his father, who had come to plead for Harun’s release. Their relationship was strained, as his father had long declared Ahmed dead to him. Ahmed visited the district chief but received no answers. Sad and powerless, he returned to the tekke, recalling his childhood and thinking of the fearless Ishak and how small a person is in this vast world.

Hasan eased Ahmed’s sorrow by revealing during their conversation that Harun, a former scribe for the kadi, had accidentally learned the fate of merchants who opposed the authorities. After one merchant was arrested, he signed a confession admitting his crimes and was executed. Harun stumbled upon pre-prepared documents, leading to his arrest to prevent him from exposing the rigged process.

Furious and shaken by the truth, Ahmed received a gift from Hasan: The Book of Stories by Abul Faradž, bound in luxurious saffian leather with four golden birds at the corners, symbolizing the purest and greatest friendship. After calming down, Ahmed visited Hasan, who told him a story about Zejna, her husband, and a young man who worked for them.

The young man, related to the husband, was in love with Zejna. They met secretly without the husband suspecting. Hasan chose not to reveal the truth, avoiding tragedy. This raised the question of whether it is more moral to stay silent to prevent disaster or to speak the truth. Ahmed conveyed the sister’s request, and Hasan offered to relinquish his inheritance if Harun was freed.

Ahmed then confronted Ajni-efendija, stating Hasan’s offer, but the kadi dismissed it cryptically, quoting the Quran: “Weak is the one who seeks, and weak is what is sought from him.”

While walking through the town, Ahmed was warned by a stranger to stop investigating to avoid harm, but he persisted, determined to free his brother. After a fruitless meeting with the mufti, he encountered Kara-Zaim, a former comrade now a shadow of his former self. Back at the tekke, Hafiz Muhamed informed him that Harun had been dead for three days.

In the mosque, Ahmed delivered a speech to the entire town, but it did not ease his grief or sense of weakness. Yet, he was not alone—Hasan was his only light in the surrounding darkness.

The next day, four guards beat Ahmed as a warning. That night, he was taken to a cell, where his only link to the outside world was the guard Džemal, who revealed that Harun had been held in the same place. Ahmed clung to hope of release, but no one came. After some time, he was moved to another cell and suddenly released without explanation.

Here begins the second part of the novel, starting with his release from prison and a story about his time in the army and his friendship with a boy living with his blind grandmother and mother. The boy’s mother provided physical services and sold food and drink to soldiers to support her family. The boy was unaware of her actions, but when the soldiers learned she was collaborating with the enemy, they decided to execute her.

Ahmed helped the boy and his grandmother, taking them to safety and later to the tekke. When they reunited, they barely recognized each other, their souls transformed. Though Mula-Jusuf listened to Ahmed, something kept them apart, and the young man grew closer to Hasan. When Mula-Jusuf and Hasan became friends, the youth seemed to rediscover his childlike spirit. Suddenly, Hasan ended the friendship, and Ahmed concluded it was due to Hasan’s inconsistency.

Despite this, Ahmed reflected on Hasan’s actions. In a conversation, Mula-Jusuf confessed to betraying Harun and sought hatred or forgiveness. Ahmed could not choose either. Mula-Jusuf later attempted suicide but was stopped. Ahmed was finally allowed to retrieve his brother’s body, which he buried in the tekke’s garden.

Hasan reconciled with his ailing father, bringing him to his home. After care, the father revived and sought to grow closer to his son. The friendship between Hasan and Ahmed deepened, offering Ahmed the solace he sought.

The narrative shifts to Hasan’s past. Educated in Istanbul, he felt like an outsider until he met Marija from Dubrovnik and her husband, with whom he bonded over their shared language. He left school and traveled with the couple to Dubrovnik, where he fell in love with Marija, who reciprocated but remained rational to avoid hurting her husband. Heartbroken, Hasan left Dubrovnik, returned home, married, and divorced a year later. He lived a merchant’s life, squandering money.

Colonel Osman-beg, who quelled a rebellion in Posavina, arrived at the tekke and informed Ahmed that the son of goldsmith Mustafa, Hadži-Sinanudin, had become an imperial silhadar. Ahmed did not inform the goldsmith. The next day, Mula-Jusuf told the kadi that Sinanudin was responsible for the escape of several Posavina prisoners from the fortress. The town was shocked, as the goldsmith was a well-known benefactor. Many, including Ahmed, demanded his release.

Ahmed sent a letter via Hasan’s father to Sinanudin’s son in Istanbul, informing him of his father’s arrest. Before Sinanudin could act, the town revolted, the kadi was killed, and Sinanudin was freed. Ahmed became the new kadi. Months later, winter arrived, and Hasan’s sister, now pregnant, rejected Ahmed’s marriage proposal. After the Posavina uprising was crushed, Hasan bought estates to help his relatives.

This led to a conflict with the vizier, triggering new events. Piri-Vojvoda gave Ahmed a letter from a Dubrovnik merchant, Hasan’s friend, denouncing Bosnian authorities. The merchant fled, and Ahmed and Hasan were accused. Despite defending himself, Hasan was imprisoned, but one night, with Ahmed’s help and Mula-Jusuf’s presence, Hasan was freed from the fortress. He was to be taken to Travnik but disappeared with Mula-Jusuf. Everyone believed Ahmed orchestrated the escape.

A letter from Mula-Jusuf and Hasan, defending Ahmed, only convinced others of their collusion. Kara-Zaim warned Ahmed that he would be imprisoned and killed. Though he had time to flee, Ahmed refused. On his way to the tekke, he met a young man from his village, whose mother was his former love, intended for marriage. Everyone thought Ahmed had died in the war, so she married another. Three days after her wedding, Ahmed returned and spent one night with her, leaving him to wonder if the young man was his son.

The novel concludes with the same Quranic verses that opened it, completing the cyclical structure.

This is the philosophical fiction at its finest!