Publication Date: May 26, 2026
In this wry, provocative debut, two gay Afghan men—cast out of their respective countries of birth by circumstances beyond their control—collide in Istanbul, a city that will test their willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones they love.
When Delbar—a hapless twenty-something with dreams of becoming a drag queen—is spectacularly outed, he flees the insular immigrant-dense suburbs of Washington, DC to seek refuge with his sympathetic aunt in Istanbul. There, he discovers a vibrant community of dissidents, sex workers, activists, poets, and heretics. Among them are Leif and his boyfriend, Mansur, with whom Delbar quickly develops a blazing fascination.
But Mansur also nurses a wounded heart, having left his own family, and his first love, behind in Iran. This time, Mansur’s learned not to dream bigger than his own survival. He’ll keep a low profile, work hard to send money back, and remain faithful to Leif—at least until his refugee status is granted.
When riot police descend on attendees of the annual Istanbul Pride march, Mansur and Delbar are thrust into dangerous proximity. With the country surging into authoritarianism, each person must ask themselves: what constitutes a life well-lived, and how high is the price of freedom?
Told through the alternating viewpoints of Delbar and Mansur, Bobuq Sayed’s debut is a story of borders and boundaries transgressed, and a seductive exploration of what it means to make a home at the margins of society. At once an immigrant family saga, a thwarted love story, and a searing portrait of politics made intimately personal, No God but Us is an ambitious introduction to a bold new voice.
No God But Us, Afghan-Australian author Bobuq Sayed’s debut novel, the personal and the political collide for two gay Afghan men in Istanbul via a vivid exploration of migration, identity, and the boundaries of love.
Set in Istanbul in 2015—a time of political upheaval in Turkey and shifting global attitudes toward migration—the novel tells the dual-narrative story of Delbar and Mansur, two protagonists who are different faces of the same Afghan diaspora coin. Each chapter alternates between them and their first-person experiences.
Delbar is a young, college-educated American from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with aspirations of becoming a drag queen under the persona “Sharia Raw.” After being outed to his unaccepting mother, he flees to Istanbul to live with his rebellious, academic aunt, Yosra. Mansur, on the other hand, is a refugee who fled Afghanistan for Tehran before arriving in Istanbul, seeking a safer life and European asylum. His existence is precarious, relying as he does on the resources of others, including his white German partner, Leif, who runs an NGO for queer and trans refugees.
When Delbar and Mansur meet while volunteering at PeaceMeals, a weekly dinner program for queer and trans refugees, their connection is electric. However, Sayed brilliantly complicates this romance by contrasting Delbar’s American optimism with Mansur’s bruised pragmatism and focus on survival—underscored through Mansur’s gritty experiences living hand-to-mouth in a run-down boarding house where his savings are stolen. Delbar looks at their blossoming romance as fate, while Mansur is a realist who sees only limited possibilities for happiness in a world where different faiths and governments still look down on them.
Sayed’s characters are finely drawn, and the sizzling chemistry between Delbar and Mansur is undeniable; yet what remains with the reader is the vulnerability of Sayed’s characters to events beyond their control. They are like dinghies bobbing adrift on restless seas, each being pushed in different directions by the currents of their past.
Another dazzling aspect of the novel is Sayed’s compelling critique of Western hegemony and the limitations of exporting North American concepts of privilege and queer allyship to other parts of the world. These are unsettlingly revealed when a Pride March in Istanbul—in 2015!—ends in tear gas, beatings, and arrests. Sayed’s characters are never far from danger, and the “families” they create are necessary for survival and emotional support.
No God But Us is a fiercely intelligent—and fiercely felt—story that blends romance with deft commentary on gay identity and the immigrant experience.
Bobuq Sayed is an Afghan cultural worker. They are the author of A Brief History of Australian Terror, a chapbook forthcoming from Common Room Editions in 2024, and the co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices From Trans and Gender Diverse Australia (Allen and Unwin).
