The Map of Salt and Stars

Rawiya is on the road with the expedition. She is ever more attracted to Khaldun, with whom she stargazes. She shares with him that her father was also a stargazer, although she never knew the names of the stars.

Nour and her family travel through Jordan with Umm Yusuf to the city of Amman, where they stay with Umm Yusuf’s mother, Sitt Shadid. Although the family must share a room and sleep on the floor, they are lucky compared to other Syrian refugees, who sleep outdoors. Still, Nour cannot sleep and seeks out Abu Sayeed. He suggests they go for a walk. They look at the stars and Nour confesses that she feels as though she is forgetting her father. Abu Sayeed reassures her that she is not forgetting him and that she sees him “differently than other people” (126). When she expresses the wish to be like everyone else, he tells her that no one is like everyone else.

Rawiya’s expedition continues towards the Red Sea, with al-Idrisi sketching maps all the way. The travelers approach Fatimid territory and are cautious about Fatimid suspicions of them being invaders, so the group pretend that they are pilgrims.