Muhammad Shahlal
The weekly market in the rural community of Sidi Lahcen is considered one of the largest markets in the region, as confirmed by French colonial documents.
This market was a center of attraction for all the neighboring tribes over the past years, as shoppers used to go through the hassle of the road to spend the night in traditional cafes so that they could dispose of their sales and then acquire their necessary necessities, most notably, the sugar and tea syndrome,,!
People were flocking to the market on the backs of thousands of animals of all shapes and sizes, so that the old trucks remained just a cacophony in a space where an excess of common sense prevailed in everything.
The few trucks that came to the town were coming from Taourirt or Debdou, and most of them were loaded with unclassified bags of sugar and tea, but they often turned back in the rainy season, as they were unable to join the market due to the broken unpaved road at that time, and the bus journey was an orphan. The bond between the town and the city of Jerada breaks its promise, disrupting the travelers’ agenda.
Our town’s market was famous for its local crafts, such as mats and some Bedouin supplies from Barada and others, but this market was specifically known for its exceptional noise, to the point that it became a racket like in neighboring towns and cities, where some did not hesitate to express their annoyance at the sounds with a ready-made comparison:
Are you in the market of Awlad Amr? (which is the unofficial title of the town).
The matter was not an exaggeration, as the visitor to the market was greeted by a loud and mysterious scream while he was a few kilometers away from the market, to the point that he thought that something big had happened to this fleeting human gathering!
We – the people of the town – have become so accustomed to hearing this annoying and inherited symphony that it has become a normal thing, while the strange visitors disdained it and considered it an example of chaos and perhaps a defect in morals!
It was natural for the braying of thousands of donkeys and the noise of some millstones to become louder, but the truth that no one denies is that the voices that were rising to the sky were human voices, and they were voices that were impossible to decipher, and the prevailing interpretation among the elderly remained that these The market was teeming with jinn!
This explanation had some reason to make it acceptable, as the noise that deafens those coming to the market soon subsides once they approach the place, and one even discovers that things are normal inside, and there is nothing to explain that noise that echoes between the heights!
Perhaps one of the funny things that is said about the noise of my town’s ancient market is that one of the relatives had asked his colleague in his youth to take care of his flock on the day of the market so that he would discover this place for the first time and bring him news of it. When he was on its outskirts, he was surprised by the mysterious noise, and all he could do was He spread his legs to the wind to escape from imminent danger, and when he joined his colleague who was eager to hear the news, our friend explained that he had miraculously escaped the horrors of what was happening in the market, because the force of the screaming that he heard before arriving was evidence of fighting between people, and perhaps a lot of blood had been shed Her news is delayed!
People have no longer heard the noise of the legendary market for many years, and the market has almost turned into a quiet meeting place if it were not for the cacophony of the loudspeakers of some vendors. Is the prevailing silence today due to the decline in the number of shoppers, or has the jinn left the place?
I remembered the noise of our market in the past as I walked around it yesterday, as images of some of the major merchants whose presence was noticeable many decades ago were imprinted in my memories, including the father of the late royal advisor, Belfaqih, and Abd al-Rahman al-Qadhawi (known as Abd al-Rahman al-Kalai), along with some Jews who remained suppliers. Bedouin abayas are indispensable for residents, not to mention all-terrain sandals!
Perhaps what is striking about our town’s market is that it was a victim of the multiplication of markets and the decline of visitors, until it became a modest meeting place that soon closed down after a few hours, while in the distant past it was compared to the market of ants, whose swarms extend and intersect throughout the day…