The novel is set in “Nag’ al-Manasi,” an isolated village in Upper Egypt living in the shadow of the 1967 war with Israel, despite its complete disconnection from the outside world. The villagers suffer from a mysterious epidemic and find themselves trapped in a nebulous space between myth and reality. The narrative is told through the voices of eight distinct characters, including “Ranuh the Beekeeper,” “Widad the Midwife,” and “Shawahi the Dancer,” each holding a piece of the village’s central mystery. The novel deeply explores humanity’s capacity to break free from illusions, the influence of power and ignorance, and frames “anxiety” as a collective state experienced by Arabs since 1948—a “sixth prayer,” as the author describes it.