I quote liberally from this chapter because of another reason also...

I quote liberally from this chapter because of another reason also, that is, the passages quoted are the best examples of Jalal's powerful style, which is retained to a great extent by Campbell.

Campbell, in his foreword, explains the difficulties of translating Ali Ahmad's style which "has a certain rough and uneven quality, marked by great informality and a deliberate disregard for the syntax of conventional literary expression." The translator has made an attempt to convey not only the ideas of the original text but also something of the tone in which they were presented.

The following account of the Westoxicated Iranian is equally true of all Westernized people of different Eastern nations who are infected by the epidemic called rootlessness. They have been uprooted from their native soil, alienated from their own culture, society, people, past, heritage and are even estranged from their present. They live in a vacuum, lead the life of parasites and feed their lust with exported luxuries.

Ideas and fashionable trends in arts also form a part of their mental luxury. Here follows Jalal Ali Ahmad's portrayal of this class: The occidentotic is a man totally without belief or conviction, to such an extent that he not only believes in nothing, but also does not actively disbelieve in anything-you might call him a syncretist. He is a timeserver. Once he gets across the bridge, he doesn't care if it stands or falls.

He has no faith, no direction, no aim, no belief, neither in God nor in humanity. He cares neither whether society is transformed or not nor whether religion or irreligion prevails. He is not even irreligious. He is indifferent. He even goes to the mosque at times, just as he goes to the club or the movies. But everywhere he is only a spectator. It is just as if he had gone to see a soccer game. He is always to be seen off in the grandstands.

He never invests anything of himself-even to the extent of moist eyes at the death of a friend, attentiveness at a shrine, or reflection in the hours of solitude. In fact he is not accustomed to solitude at all; he flees it. Because he is in terror of himself, he turns up everywhere. He offers opinions, if it is appropriate, and particularly if it is fashionable to offer opinions, but only to someone from whom he hopes to gain some further benefit.

Never do you hear from him any outcry or protest, any but or why or wherefore. He will explain everything with the utmost gravity and grandiloquence.