This collection of short stories is characterized by the meditative nature that characterizes Naguib Mahfouz's style in general and is clearly evident in the thirty stories of this distinguished collection. Through it, Mahfouz raises many questions and ideas about despair, death, life, and destiny, and investigates the complexities of the human soul, such as schizophrenia from which the hero of the story "False Dawn" suffers, with precise language, precise description, and delicacy in capturing details. The stories of this group are characterized by their shortness and extreme condensation when compared to the majority of Mahfouz's stories, as if he began with them the stage of extremely condensed and shorthand writing, which led years later to his very small texts, such as echoes of autobiography and dreams of a period of convalescence.