Libretto of El Nafas
by Tarik Benouarka

El Nafas is a tragedy, a spiritual and poetical work that explores the themes of fatality and the strengh 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. Tragedy and evil attempt to take over this sanctuary and one moonless night, they get their chance. Houria, great initiate, is walking in the immensity of the desert, nesting her new-born Selim. As she thinks she is being attacked by a man, she mortally wounds him. Her mistake is fatal : she has just killed her beloved spouse: Abel, the tribe chief. 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. But an Angel is watching, saves the child and entrusts him to Okba, the tribe guide, who has remained faithful to the infant’s parents. Selim grows up, guided by the benevolent force of El Nafas. Him only is the heir of the Spirit Journeys. And the son of El Nafas will not rest until his land, tribe and precious knowledge are saved and his mother freed from the torment of her soul.