Discuss the thematic significance of this phrase, "a thousand splendid suns”.

The title originated in a poem written by Persian poet, Saeb-e-Tabrizi, who wrote the poem to illestrate and celebrate the beauty of Afghanistan..... both cuturally and physically. In context, however, it's hard to picture the land the poet envisioned, as the Afghanistan depicted in the text has been destroyed and little of the beauty described in the poem is exists in his world after the Taliban takes control.

The title, nonetheless, speaks of beauty, something that is aptly depicted in Mariam and Laila's relationship. The two women symbolically serve as "splendid suns"....... lights that are not extinguished, regardless of the challenges laid before them.