‘If Sheikh Zaki was with us, we would accept whatever he decided,’ Sheikh Hamed said. ‘But what can we say about God’s will?’
‘I can’t bear to let the boy go,’ Na’sa said. ‘I mean, if Hajja Zainab was here, she would have been the one to say whether he should go or not. Even if Nafisa was here, she would have….’
They asked her about Nafisa’s health.
‘May God help her,’ she replied.
Haniya, who considered Medhat a son, was prepared. ‘Saeed didn’t want me to come,’ she said, pointing to her husband. ‘But I swore I would go and pitch in with my opinion. Listen everyone, I can’t give up a son of mine. I might have three boys and two girls, but I wouldn’t give up Medhat. How can he leave his family?’
After hesitating a little and stealing glances at the foreign lady, Sheikh Sayyid gathered
