She couldn't stop imagining her sewing threading winding itself around her neck like a hangman’s noose.
-- Narration (1 - "Mayya")

Importance: This line of narration helps to articulate Mayya's sense of dread at being forced into a marriage. She has no say in the natter, and she is being forced to marry a man whom she has never met. These circumstances help to illustrate the misogynistic elements of this society, which routinely limit female autonomy.

And when I asked Mayya, Do you love me? she laughed. She laughed!
-- Abdallah (2 - "Abdallah" (I))

Importance: In this line of narration, Abdallah recalls how Mayya has consistently refused to say that she loves him. Mayya does not love Abdallah, and she was forced into the marriage. As a result, the marriage is neither loving nor fulfilling for either spouse. The novel thusly shows how patriarchal social structures can harm both sexes.

...the government freed all of the slaves.
-- Abdallah (2 - "Abdallah" (I))

Importance: The novel's plot prominently...