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People turn to the tomb of Wad Hamid under the doum tree for
salvation and spiritual comfort. Sick people seek the healing power of
Wad Hamid. The narrator unfolds the episode of the woman who was so
feverish that she had to stay in bed for two months. The woman, who
was his next door neighbour, gathered her strength and made for the
down tree. With hardly sufficient strength left in her aching body,
she desperately begged for Wad Hamid's healing power. "0 Wad Hamid, I
have come to you to seek refuge and protection. I shall sleep here at
your tomb under your doum tree. Either you let me die or you restore
me to life: I shall not leave here until one of those two things
happens". "Midway between wakefulness and sleep", the woman continues,
"I suddenly heard sounds of recitation from the Koran and a bright
light, as sharp as a knife-edge, radiated out, joining up the two
river banks, and I saw the doum tree prostrating itself in worship....
I saw a venerable old man with a white beard and wearing a spotless
white robe come up to me, and a smile on his face. He struck me on the
head with his string of prayer-beads and called out: 'Arise.' (lines
209-229) The woman swore that she was never afraid or ill ever since.
Tayeb Salih uses narratological devices to maintain suspense and
captivate the reader's interest throughout the story. Such devices as
redundance, digression, and retrospect are often used with artistic
craftsmanship. For instance, the narrator puts a certain question into
the mouth of the narratee. The reader expects an immediate answer to
such an urgent question. To his surprise, the question is not
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