Chapter 1 Summary

Chapter 1 begins with Nayir in the Saudi Arabian desert preparing for his evening prayer. Other men in the camp are laughing, drinking, and playing cards. Nayir is resentful of their disrespect and lack of piousness for Muslim law and religious teaching.

Nayir has been asked by his wealthy friend, Othman to conduct a search for his missing sister. Already the men have been in the desert many days and have not found her. Nayir thinks of the missing girl, Nouf and allows him to imagine what she was like. He takes a photograph from his pocket—a photo of Nouf and her younger sister—and studies her face, an act considered immodest in Muslim tradition. While he is studying the photograph, a man approaches the camp and with him he brings the news that Nouf has been found dead.

Chapter 1 Analysis