Beginning with an epilogue set in the present, this novel quickly moves back to the time of the generation after Muhammad - a time when North Africa, the home of the Berber peoples, was overrun by Arab armies. With strong characters and a compelling sense of place, Chraïbi demonstrates how the Berbers tried to maintain their cultural identity in the face of the overwhelmingly rapid and powerful spread of Islam throughout their world. First published in French in 1982.