Celestial Bodies

A man stands alone in the desert at a time when “the planet Saturn was directly ahead” (155). He makes an offering and feels relief when Salima’s face “flashed into his mind” (155). He burns the incense and launches into a “fervent call” (155). He pleads for God to “cut Najiya, daughter of Shaykha, from Azzan, son of Mayya” (155) and to lead them to despise one another.

Khawla is the only daughter left in her parents’ house. She feels “dejected and irritated by the constricted life at home” (156); her mother is always present, and, on rare occasions, her unsmiling father joins them. She becomes increasingly obsessed with her appearance and longs for Nasir to return. One day, he does. By this time, Khawla has rejected many marriage proposals. Nasir is broke and money left to him in his mother’s will is predicated on his marriage to Khawla. Two weeks after the wedding, as soon as he has the money, he flies back to Canada. There, he already has a girlfriend, who he does not tell about Khawla. He leads a double life, returning to Oman every two years to visit his children and leave Khawla pregnant once again. Khawla “held on fiercely to her dream” (157), determined not to lose Nasir for a second time.