El Nafas is a tragedy, a spiritual and poetical work that explores the themes of fatality and the strength of human willpower, hope and love in the face of destiny.

The story carries us back to a distant past, long before the great revelations, into the heart of a mysterious desert, the Land of the Breath, Bilâd El Nafas. Here, protected by a sanctuary of dunes, live the Free Men, a tribe of nomads in search of the absolute and the custodians of a unique source of wealth: the Science of Dreams, the source of spiritual journeys and transhumance.

In the faraway land of El Nafas lives the Tribe of Free Men, high-ranking Sufis responsible for protecting the secret and richness of life: the science of dreams and journeys of the spirit.

Tragedy and evil attempt to take over this sanctuary offered up to noble spirituality. One moonless night, they get their chance. At the time, Houria, great initiate, married to the tribe’s most inspired wise man is walking in the immensity of the Western desert, nestling her new-born, Selim.
Caught off guard by a man, she thinks she is being attacked and mortally wounds him. Her mistake is fatal : she has just killed Abel, her beloved spouse. The ruthless Agar, promoted Master of dreams on Abel’s death, sentences the poor woman to atone for her crime by abandoning her son to the unknown. Houria dies of grief and her spirit becomes prisoner of Agar’s accomplice, Mina the Queen of Adramuth, land of woe, where souls make amends for their mistakes. Agar the traitor doesn’t stop there and takes advantage of his status to challenge the precious knowledge of the tribe… The science of dreams… Journeys of the spirit…

But an Angel is watching and saves the child, destined to become the heir to the secret of spirit journeys. The angel entrusts him to Okba, the tribe guide, who has remained faithful to the infant’s parents. Selim – whose name means purity and serenity – grows up and follows the path of his history, guided by the benevolent force of El Nafas. Until the day when Agar, corrupt servant and accomplice of evil, believing himself triumphant, sees his enemies’ child, Selim, arriving from the desert. The son of El Nafas will not rest until his land is saved and his mother freed from the torment of her soul.

The libretto is a deeply symbolic and poetical ode.
On stage, the history unfolds in the mise-en-abyme created to expound the major universal themes personified in the opera.
The language of El Nafas is infinitely subtle, carved out of literary Arabic, the fruit of a semantically advanced collaboration and adaptation between the composer Tarik Benouarka and Ms Rima Sleiman, doctor of letters.

The musical score reflects the meeting of two cultures with different yet complementary musical and cultural roots. The result is a romantic, lyrical, melodic and tonal symphony that, scene by scene, provides the colourful bewitching setting for the characters and melodies.

The opera consists of two 75-minute long acts, each with its own overture.
Act I introduces the framework of the story, the characters and the dramatic structure.
Act II continues the storyline with a tragic build-up from one scene to the next, until the dramatic breaking point is reached and the last scene played out.