The Yellow Birds

Introduced in the opening chapter of the novel, the muezzin's song is a recurring sensory detail throughout The Yellow Birds. In the first mention, shortly after first arriving in Al Tafar, Bart narrates, "The muezzin's song would soon warble its eerie fabric of minor notes out from the minarets, calling the faithful to prayer. It was a sign and we knew what it meant, that hours had passed, that we had drawn nearer to our purpose, which was [...] vague and foreign" (7). Here, the muezzin’s song is a routine element of time’s passage.

Later, as the battle for Al Tafar intensifies, the muezzin’s song begins to appear at the end of chapters. Chapter 6 concludes with: “As we continued through the city, people began returning in twos and threes and set about the task of burying the dead. I heard the muezzin’s call and the sun went down purple and red, painting the city softly” (127). This falls after the majority of the fighting and serves almost as a return to normalcy, though it also serves as a mourning call, as citizens return to bury the dead. The muezzin call also appears at the end of Chapter 8, after Murph sees the female medickilled—the act that ultimately leads to Murph leaving the base and being killed.