Chapter 2 Summary

When Farishta transforms into the Archangel Gibreel, he feels his mother's presence. He thinks he is going insane and can understand the reaction of the people he visits as the angel, who also feel insane upon seeing Gibreel. This time, he visits a forty-four year old businessman on his birthday. His name is Mahound. Mahound makes his way up Cone Mountain to a cave high above the city of Jahilia. The citizens of Jahilia are only three or four generations removed from nomadism. They are now a city of urban merchants and businessmen. Class consciousness exists in Jahilia and the most despised citizens are the water carriers, including a man named Khalid. On the upper end of the spectrum is Karim Abu Simbel, Jahilia's leading citizen and husband to the most beautiful woman in the land, the great and terrible Hind. Hind's lover...