This book is a translation of one of the most interesting autobiographies ever written in Arabic.

Jabra (1920–1994), a writer of many talents, beautifully describes his childhood in Bethlehem and Jerusalem up to the mid 1930s. This autobiography is brimming with gentleness and honesty, interwoven with charm and humor that entice the reader from the very beginning to the conclusion.

Dr. Adel Manna, the director of the Center for the Study of Arab Society at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, edited The First Cistern and wrote an afterword about it and other autobiographical literature in Arabic.