Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a silent imagery in the novel, but an important one none-the-less. Afghanistan represents the imagery of the past. As a boy, Tahir remembers certain emotions associated with Afghanistan that he wants his children to eventually inherit, but he must come to terms with the fact that the Afghanistan he knew is no longer the one that exists. They decide not to go there because of the ravages of warfare. Afghanistan is like paradise lost, and war is like the angel with flaming sword which prohibits them from going backwards in life. This young couple must only move forward, no matter how difficult that seems.
Morocco
The imagery of Morocco is what leads this couple to move there. The rich history, both culturally and personally to the Shah family, makes the beautiful land into a prime candidate for a place to raise children one day. But instead of just presenting an automatic paradise, the memoir tells a different story in that imagery. The imagery of Morocco is not the nostalgic bliss that defines Tahir's memories of Afghanistan, but rather, it is a platform for sacrifice, work, and constant improvement.
Home and marriage
Marriage is examined through the concrete imagery of a couple desperately attempting to fix an archetypically broken home. The imagery of fixing a broken home is a portrait of how married people can sacrifice before children to help pave the way for the introduction of children into the home. If they don't want to raise children in a broken home, they have to fix it as soon as possible, because they both feel a strong urge to grow their family. The process is grueling and often humorous, a la Money Pit.
Dominion and authority
Tahir does not use his authority to restrict his wife's free will, but instead, he broadens her freedom by accepting a role in their marriage as a spiritual executive in the home. His authority is designed to keep the troublesome spirits out of their domain so that their children can grow undistracted by the wiles of crafty and mischievous conspiracies of jinn. They go from obeying the jinn (trying to not upset them) to evicting them with their own invented exorcism. They cleanse their home and stake a claim that spirits will not be tolerated trespassing on their property.
