Chapter 1

Said gets released from jail. Said goes to visit his friend Ilish and ends up feeling betrayed by him. Said wants his

daughter, Sana back; but she no longer knows him and rejects him. He leaves taking what are left of his books with him. How does he fair, does he end up rebuilding his life, or turning back to crime? Read further to find out!

Chapter 2

After being humiliated at the house of his former partner Ilish, he begins his new journey as a free man. He wonders down Jabal Road to the house of Sheikh Alial-Junaydi. Sheikh was his father's mentor, so he trusted him with advice. Said asked if he could sleep there and Sheikh seemed disappointed because he "sought the walls, not the heart." Said revealed he had been in jail and Sheikh began talking in "psalms and rhyme." Sheikh placed the Koran before Said, exclaiming "wash and read" repeatedly. At the end of the chapter we get a glimpse of Said's thoughts. It is then we discover how Nabawiyya and Said met, and his anger flares as he remembers the heaven and hell she brought him.

Chapter 3

Said reunites with his old friend, Rauf. Once good friends, they no longer have common lifestyles. Rauf tries to convice Said he should pursue an honest living rather than reverting to his old ways. Feeling as though he has worn out his welcome, Said leaves with a full stomach and bank notes in his pocket.

Chapter 4

In this chapter Said is seeking revenge but is still unsure who has betrayed him. Rauf who was his mirrow is now more looking down on Said Though Rauf gave Said money (notes), Said decides to adventure out into the night and steal from Rauf.  Trying to find a way to break into Rauf's house, Said found an open window and got inside the house that way.  Trying to find his way around the house in the dark, Said was suddenly strucken by a bright light.  When he had opened his eyes, he had managed to find Rauf standing right before him only a couple yards away.  Said had just been released from prison a day before, and now Rauf was threatening Said to call the police and have them take him back to jail.  When asked why did he come into Rauf's house and try to steal from him, all Said could say was that, "he did not know" and that, "he has been confused since his release from prison."  Rauf decided not to call the police on Said, but told him that he better not see him in his sight again.  Said had given Rauf his money after he demanded him to give it back.  Said then returns to the banks of the Nile in disbelief of his escape.  He thought for a second of how his plan was ruined, but then he began to realize how lucky he was to have escaped rather than being sent back to prison.

Chapter 5

Said goes to the café owned by his friend Tarzan. Said requests a revolver and Tarzan gives him one as a present. Also at the café, Said runs into Nur, a prostitute who used to be in love with him. Said decides he needs a car and wants Nur to use her profession to help him.

Chapter 6

In the beginning of Chapter 6, Said walks to the place where Nur told him they would be. When he gets there, he goes over to the car where Nur and her client are getting it on. He takes out his revolver and points it at them. Nur, aware of Siad's plan, acts as if she is terrified. Said orders the man to get out of the car, and then jumps in it, and drives off with Nur. Nur and Said talk for a while and Nur invites Said to spend the night with her. He says he will but he has things to take care of first. He drops her off at the police station, telling her to go inside and tell the cops that she has just been robbed, kidnapped, and raped. He tells Nur to give the cops a completely false description of him. Nur wants nothing but to spend the rest of her life in peace with Said, but his desire for revenge has fully consumed him.

Chapter 7

  In this chapter, Said comes to the house Ilish was in at the start of the story.  He knows he is going to kill Ilish and Nabawiyya, he just isn’t sure how he should do it.  He eventually decides to break a pane of glass so as to lure out Ilish, and when he sees a man come out, he jumps out and shoots him until he is dead.  He then runs and flees in the car he and Nur stole, and then abandons it, and decides to find a hiding place.

Chapter 8

Said just killed his enemy, Ilish Sidra (or at least he thinks so). He comes back to the of the Sheikh and goes straight to sleep. Said dreams about enemies, murder, his daughter, etc. When he wakes up the Sheikh mentions that Said slept a long time and still looks tired. Said grabs the newspaper and reads. In the newspaper it says that the man Said killed wasn't Ilish Sidra, but an innocent tenant. And the worst part is that somebody recognized Said and he is now wanted by the police.

Chapter 9

Said is waiting in Nur’s apartment when she returns home, surprising her, but she is pleased he has decided to come stay with her.  Said wonders why he isn’t interested in her when she is so obviously infatuated with him, but considers he must be comparing her to his wife, who had more vitality.  Nur tells him how much she missed him and how she wants to take care of him now.

Chapter 10 

In this chapter, Said is left alone in Nur’s apartment since he has to hide out, and he reminisces on how he met and wed Nabawiyya.  He also remembers he was denied entrance to the University that she attended, a very sore spot for him.  He begins to get bored, but realizes anything that he wants to do will only bring him unwanted attention.  He falls asleep and is awakened later when Nur returns, who brings food and newspapers back with her.  He is pleased that the papers report that the people seem to be behind him, but regrets not killing Ilish.  He and Nur have dinner and he explains how he needs to get cloth so he can make a policeman’s uniform.

Chapter 11 

In this chapter, Said watches the graveyard outside Nur’s apartment, and is reminded of his parents’ deaths.  He remembers how his father was a hard-working and loving man who was a proud disciple of the Sheikh, and then how he died suddenly one morning.  It was then he met Rauf Ilwan for the first time, who allowed Said to take over his father’s job, and supported Said emotionally when his mother was dying and praised Said for his thievery, which is why Said can not believe that Rauf has become a member of the elite thieves.  He then decides to go to Tarzan’s café, and enjoys a drink, but leaves when he fears discovery.  He returns to Nur’s apartment to find her sad and beaten, and he is depressed that this is part of what her job entails.  She laments about how her life is not how she wanted it to be, and Said, truly moved, tries to comfort her and get her to take a bath and get some sleep so that she can feel better.

Chapter 12

 In this chapter, Said finishes his uniform and Nur discovers how he killed someone, which upsets her greatly.  He tells her that they will be okay and will escape and make her dream for a good life come true.  The next day, Said tries to go to Tarzan’s, but Tarzan tells him it is too dangerous thanks to the newspapers and sends him home.  He is angry that Rauf’s newspaper is making life so difficult for him, especially since Rauf used to be the inspiration for learning and revolution in Said, as well as encouraging him to be a thief.  Nur returns and is no longer depressed, and Said finds himself happy to see her and enjoys her company.  They discuss his status as a hero among the people, and Nur talks about her past, revealing her name to be Shalabiyya and reveals that she has lied about her past which seems to anger Said.

Chapter 13 

Said returns to Tarzan’s where he learns Bayaza, a man at the café who might know where Said’s targets are.  Said jumps him in the desert and threatens to kill or rob him if he does not tell him where Ilish is.  Bayaza does not know their location, so Said lets him go, but takes some cash so as to not have wasted his time completely.  Said now believes the only way to get his revenge is to kill Rauf as Ilish is not going to be found in the time he has left before the police catch him.

Chapter 14

In this chapter, Said is in his officer’s uniform and goes to the home of Rauf Ilwan.  He waits for him to return, and when Rauf does, he attempts to shoot him, but his declaration of this fact gets him shot at and his aim thrown off, but he still believes he has killed Rauf.  He then flees in a rowboat across the river, finds a taxi and returns to Nur’s flat.  He has a nasty cut on his leg, and Nur sees this and immediately concludes he has done something illegal again, but fixes the wound anyway.  Said and Nur discuss how his actions are negatively effecting their lives and how his lust for revenge is likely to get him killed, which he denies to her in an effort to comfort her.

Chapter 15 

In this chapter, Said learns that he has killed yet another innocent instead of his target Rauf, and he begins ranting about he is an agent of justice and imagines himself to be on trial, where he gives a speech that wins over his judges and they declare him a great man who has had a string of misfortune.  He wakes later when Nur comes home, and she is depressed because she is sure that revenge is his only motivation and she will never get her happy ending.  Said finally feels genuine affection for her and comforts her.

Chapter 16 

In this chapter, Nur fails to return home, and Said wonders if she is in trouble, or perhaps she has not returned because she wants to turn him over to the police for the reward on his head.  He eventually gets so hungry he must leave the flat to find food and goes to Tarzan’s café to do so.  Tarzan informs him that he is in deep trouble and that there are a ton of people looking for him, but gets him some food anyway.  He decides to return to Nur’s flat to see if she has returned, but is confronted by two police officers on his way back.  Seeing as how he is still in his officer’s uniform, they do not recognize him right away and he takes advantage of this and beats them unconscious.  He then arrives at the flat and finds that Nur has still not returned, and thus becomes worried and imagines all the possibilities for why she has not returned yet.  He is angry about how society would not care what happens to Nur and fears the same might happen to his daughter Sana.  He awakens the next day to the sound of the landlord wanting the rent from Nur, who still has not returned.  He decides the best thing for him would be to leave the flat and find somewhere else to hide.

Chapter 17 

In this chapter, Said leaves the flat and goes off in search of a place to stay, but he knows that most of the places he has been are probably under police surveillance, and he has forgotten his officer’s uniform so he does not have a disguise to fool them with now.  He returns to Sheikh Ali al-Junaydi’s house to hide out, and the Sheikh lets him eat some of his food.  The Sheikh tries talking to Said about being a better person and settling down, but Said says he can not rest until his enemies are gone or he is.  Said then goes to sleep in a position that should offer him some protection from identification, asking for the Sheikh to protect him as he sleeps.  As Said lies there, he realizes he is no longer as great as he once was, and that is the reason for his failures.  The Sheikh is sad that Said is not as great a man as his father in regards to his faith, but lets him sleep after discussing this with him.

Chapter 18 

In this chapter, Said is determined to retrieve his uniform from Nur’s apartment.  He returns to Nur’s flat and finds that the lights are turned on, and he becomes joyful because he believes that Nur must have returned home.  He rushes up to the flat and plans on showing Nur that he truly cares for her and missed her greatly, and would even put his revenge on hold to start a happy life with her away from where he was wanted.  He gets to the flat only to find that new tenants have moved in, and he has to beat the man unconscious when he makes his escape back to the Sheikh’s house.  He goes to sleep but has nightmares, and awakens to see the Sheikh and his disciples praying, and he remembers how his father was just like these men but he never was.  He realizes that the Sheikh’s place is no longer safe when he hears people talk about him outside of the walls and eventually ends up back at the graveyard behind Nur’s flat.  He is then found by the police dogs, and the police surround the graveyard and blind him with a bright light from a helicopter.  He decides to try and kill them with his revolver, but he is no longer a great shot and is killed there in the graveyard, no longer caring about anything.