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Question:

1. Describe/discuss the encounters of the narrator with the other characters and their views of Zaabalawi.

2. What does the narrator learn about Zaabalawi from the other characters?

3. What do you think the narrator discovers at the end of the journey?

When the narrator becomes terminally ill and has exhausted all that modern medicine can afford him, he goes on a quest to find the elusive Zaabalawi. He remembers that his father had spoken glowingly of the saint his whole life, that Zaabalawi was a "true saint of God, a remover of worries and troubles." His father added that if it had not been for Zaabalawi, that he would have died a miserable death, although we never find out why.

Zaabalawi no longer lives at Gaafar Market, so the narrator continues on to Garden City, where the Sheikh Qamar tells him that Zaabalawi had been regarded as a "man of miracles," but that had been a long time ago, in fact, so long ago that he barely recalled him.

Next, the narrator goes to the Birgawi Residence, where he was told he might find Zaabalawi. He instead finds an "insignificant fellow" using the entrance of the building as a place to sell old books on theology and mysticism. The narrator asks him about the saint, and the bookseller is amazed. He exclaims that it was such a long time ago when he knew Zaabalawi, that the saint would sit with him reminiscing, and that at such times, the bookseller felt "blessed by his holy presence." Unfortunately, he had no idea where the saint was now.

The next few discussions regarding Zaabalawi were with various shopkeepers in the area, some of whom had never heard of the saint. Others called Zaabalawi a fake. There were a few who were in agreement with the narrator's father, the sheikh, and the bookseller, that while the time they had spent with Zaabalawi had been very pleasant, it had been a very long time ago and they had no idea where to find him.

Days later the narrator sets out again to find Zaabalawi, because the pain is becoming intense. He visits the local sheikh of the district to see if he can help. The sheikh displays the same astonishment as the others had. Nonetheless, he knows that the saint is still alive, but that he has no permanent address. This leaves the narrator's meeting with the saint to chance. The sheikh says that the saint is a "baffling man," but at least "he's still alive."

The narrator then calls on the calligrapher, who was reportedly a friend of Zaabalawi. He was astonished as well when the narrator asked him where the saint was keeping himself these days. The calligrapher said that the saint "had impeccable taste," adding that it was the nature of saints to be a mystery and therefore unpredictable; as a result, he had no idea where to find him either.

Next the narrator visits a musician who was said to have been another friend of Zaabalawi. As with the others, the musician has no idea where the saint lives, but says that he too did his best work when Zaabalawi came to visit him. The musician agreed with the calligrapher that it was the nature of saints to come and go at will. He told the narrator that Zaabalawi was the "epitome of things musical. He has an extremely beautiful speaking voice, and you have only to hear him to want to burst into song and he inspired to creativity..."

The last person the narrator encounters in his search is a "hardened drinker," who has a countenance unravaged by alcoholism and age. The drunk insists that the narrator get drunk as well, otherwise anything he tells him will be rendered incomprehensible. When the narrator is sufficiently drunk, he falls asleep and dreams about paradise. While he is asleep, part of his dream is that soft jasmine petals are falling upon him like rain. When he awakens, the narrator learns that while he was sleeping, Zaabalawi had been there and had tried to awaken him by drizzling water over him. The drunk tells the narrator that the saint cannot be bribed, but will return if he knows that he is loved.

I am not sure if the narrator learned the true nature of Zaabalawi by the end of the story, or what his dream really meant. Ideally, the dream sequence should have told the narrator that paradise awaited him and not to be afraid. If Zaabalawi really did exist in human form, and if he really had the power to guide and heal, then when he appeared to the narrator in the bar, by sprinkling the water over him, he was trying to heal him spiritually, not physically. The bar scene and the dream sequence remind me of other types of mysticism that I have read about. The dream itself and the fact that Zaabalawi was actually sitting next to the narrator while he was asleep reminded me of the Druids, particular Merlin, and their healing dreams. Again, at this point I myself am not sure of Zaabalawi's actual physical form, or whether or not he appeared as a real person, a fantasy, or a feeling. Zaabalawi himself, because he is able to be so many different things to so many people, reminded me of the vision of the Holy Grail. When the Holy Grail first appeared, it was something different to everyone who saw it. To some people it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted; to others, it took on the image of the Virgin Mary. In short, it reflected peoples' deepest desires, and inspired knights to go on quests "for a year and a day" to find it. Zaabalawi acts in much the same way -- he identifies with all sorts of people and leads them to a higher level of awareness and achievement.

Another thing that occurred to me is that what I know of religions in general, the mysteries are not for the uninitiated and the "once-born"; therefore, a spiritual guide is necessary. The mysticism of the Islamic religion, Sufism, as it was explained in the group presentation, stipulates that a spiritual guide be present to prepare and guide people to the higher planes of revelation and perhaps reincarnation, which makes sense. At the end of the story, I do not see the narrator understanding this point yet. He is in terrible pain and wants the relief that only Zaabalawi can give him, but I do not think he understands the kind of cure that the saint is able to administer. I think that he still believes that Zaabalawi is a type of witch doctor, as Mike said during the presentation, who has actual cures that traditional medicine does not. In fact, Zaabalawi's cure is altogether different. The narrator learns that, real or not, Zaabalawi has been lost to the high-tech world, that he can only be found nowadays among the downtrodden and the artists, which is interesting. Indeed, the only time Zaabalawi came to the narrator is when he was dead drunk, which is an interesting commentary on the Islamic religion in general.

The narrator comes to the conclusion that he needs to be patient, and resolves that since he knows now for certain that Zaabalawi does exist (even though he was not conscious and did not actually see him for himself), he can wait for him to return. This resolution is thrown to the wind, however, when the pain returns. The narrator becomes desperate again, and ends the story in the same way that he began it: "I have to find Zaabalawi." Again, I am not sure if the narrator wants Zaabalawi to cure his physical illness or lead him toward a peaceful death.