Celestial Bodies

Mayya is sewing to distract herself from love. Her mother hopes that, one day, someone will recognize Mayya’s talents as a seamstress enough to marry her. Eventually, “that someone arrive[s]” (13). The son of Merchant Sulayman asks for Mayya’s hand. While the marriage is being arranged, Mayya stops praying. She worries that God is punishing her for having loved someone else. Her sisters—Khawla and Asma—tease her. Mayya loves Ali bin Khallaf, who returned from London after years of study; she pleads with God to see him “one more time” (15). When she does see him, she weeps. She focuses her energy on attracting his attention, but fails. Even after her wedding to the son of Merchant Sulayman, she pleads with God and is convinced that God is punishing her “for her sin” (16).

When Mayya becomes pregnant, she prays for an easy birth. Mayya herself was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and almost died. She asks to have the baby in a hospital in Muscat, where the missionaries help her give birth to “a scrawny infant” (17): a girl named London. The odd name confuses everyone but Mayya refuses to change it. She returns to her parents’ home to recover from the birth.