Summary

Chapter 16 is titled “The Last Lesson.” Power recounts her personal feelings after attending Akram's lengthy lectures that focused on the repetitive message that each of them were traveling through the world on their way to another place. Humans need food, clothing, shelter, and companionship, but each of these served the purpose of enhancing the ability to praise Allah. Those who submitted themselves to God had the promise of Paradise, though it was not a guarantee. Those who did not, were destined for hell, which Akram interpreted very literally. Akram warned against the tendency to avoid talking about hell, reminding listeners that the two possible destinations in the afterlife were heaven and hell. Power recounts her father's death and the fact that she and her mother had tried to console themselves with the idea...