Ahmad Alayar

An Arabian Science-Fantasy Trilogy

Tablets of the
Bedouin

Written by Ahmad Alayar

A boy who absorbs every emotion but can only smile, a girl whose voice can command anyone but has never known freedom, and a man who sees all of reality but cannot see himself. Each carries an instrument. Together, they play one song. It stops a war.

Read Tablet I
Thousands of distant galaxies and bright foreground stars in Webb's First Deep Field, showing the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723.
Webb’s First Deep Field · SMACS 0723NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

“All those stars, and only one sky to carry them.

Or is it the stars themselves that are holding up the sky?”

Altair · Tablet I

The screenplays

  1. Tablet I: Of the Warden Who Would Not Weep

    2026 Austin Film Festival · Second RounderCommended by the screenplay team; narrowly missed the semifinalist round.

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  2. Tablet II: Of the Scholar Who Would Submit

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  3. Tablet III: Of the Seer Who Would Not See

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Download all three screenplays (ZIP)

Author’s note

Ever since I can remember, going to the cinema was my favourite thing in the world. It felt like magic. I gathered my siblings to make really bad home movies. I practised magic tricks in front of a mirror and hunted down films with the greatest plot twists. Then it clicked: a movie is a magic trick. I became obsessed.

I'm a Khaleeji Arab, grew up in the US, and now live in Kuwait. I studied engineering with a huge love for maths and physics. The universe itself was the ultimate magic trick, and I wanted to learn its secrets.

Today, I work an office job. I keep dreaming. After six years of work, Tablets of the Bedouin is that story teenage me always wanted to see. Built from the ground up, for the big screen.