Lahia asked him: Did any poet ever compose a beautiful poem like the ones you sang to me? Are you not the muse of other poets more skilled than me, who composed poetry and celebrated your beauty, like our master Al-Nabigha? Al-Nabigha? His devil claims so! He mentioned your name and described your form in his poem... I haven't heard of this poem! Then take your lute and I shall recite it to you! She took her lute and played its strings eagerly, looking at Labid expectantly.

This novel, set during the pilgrimage season of the year fifty-three after the Year of the Elephant, is the first of a trilogy exploring the pilgrimage across the ages, starting from the pre-Islamic era up to the fifty-three years after September 11. Among the characters in this first part are the poet Labid, the prostitute Muhaddad, Al-Nabigha's demon, and Asma Al-Adawiya, the most beautiful woman in the world.

Publishing house: Dar Al-Adab Number of Pages: 208 Year of publication: 2005