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This collection of stories is considered one of Naguib Mahfouz's most important narrative experiences, as it includes three stories that contain within them many stories and characters that Mahfouz experienced and lived closely. The events of the three stories each move in one direction, but they intersect in many places, forming an interconnected fabric that brings together the stories in a common world. Mahfouz returns to his memories of the neighborhood in which he grew up, then to Abbasiya, where he moved while he was still a boy under the age of twelve. Stories that Mahfouz infuses with the scent of the past and nostalgia for memories, reflecting the summary of his world, its characters, and the places that shaped his imagination, as well as the general events with which he was preoccupied since the 1919 Revolution, the Free Officers Movement, the setback, and economic openness.