Chapter ThreeSpring came, filling Zainab’s soul with so many longings that she felt terribly isolated in her new life, the monotonous life of a marriage without love. Whenever she passed beneath the blossoming trees with their glowing leaves and beautiful flowers or stood listening to the joyful melodies of the birds, a persistent voice beckoned to her reminding her of the past. Stripped of her freedom she was now a captive, no longer able to pursue the desires of her heart or to escape the clutches of her husband. Yet the heart is too great to be possessed. Free, in spite of ourselves, it gives itself to whom it pleases and remains there however much we summon or beseech it. Only when we acknowledge that we are powerless, and reconcile ourselves to what our hearts desire for us, can we en
