The author was born in a village in Palestine where he spent his childhood and part of his boyhood. This stage of his life was a mixture of joy, mischief, and misery. After his mother's death, he was entered into a boarding military school in Jordan. In 1967, after the Israelis had swept his country, he became homeless. After secondary school, he was given a scholarship to study in Algeria. While living in Algeria, he befriended some French individuals who invited him to France, where he found refuge and deep friendship in the peasants' French community.