Men in the Sun Summary

Abu Qais feels the throbbing of the damp earth as he lies there; it smells like his wife's hair when it is wet after a bath. He recalls hearing the teacher, Ustaz Selim, say that the Tigris and Euphrates meet to form the Shatt al-Arab river while he was eavesdropping at the window. Ustaz Selim could not say prayers because he was not an imam. He died before the village fell into the hands of the Jews. Abu Qais' son, Qais, asks his father about the Shatt al-Arab river. Abu Qais learns that his wife, Umm Qais, is pregnant and wants him to call Umm Umar. He feels alien and insignificant; he does not even own his home. His friend Saad arrives and wants him to move across the river to Kuwait where there is a better...