"Listen, Said. Things are no longer what they used to be. In the past, you were both a thief and my friend, for reasons you well know. Now the situation has changed. If you go back to a burglary you'll be a thief and nothing else."
Rauf tells Said after being released that things have changed, and he calls on Said to leave burglary and to turn his life around instead. Rauf also informs Said that he's not going to be on his side if he keeps doing the same things that he used to do in the past. However, Said cannot accept this from his past mentor, and finds Rauf completely hypocritical, as Rauf was the one who encouraged his early thievery as a way to get back at the rich men the two of them used to decry.
She's forgotten too, that woman who sprang from filth, from vermin, from treachery and infidelity.
If a reader were to pay attention only to Said's thoughts, they would get the impression that Nabawiyya is the worst of women: unclean, deceitful, rotten to the core. If that same reader paid attention only to Said's memories, however, they would get the impression Nabawiyya was beautiful, mannered, clean, and elegant. This obvious differential means that it is impossible for the reader to truly get an idea of what Nabawiyya is like. It seems unlikely she could occupy both polarities, so is she somewhere in the middle? How do we ever figure out who someone is only through the eyes of someone else?
"You seek a roof and nothing else."
The Sheikh is full of cryptic, aphoristic comments, many of which Said and the reader cannot understand, but this quote is certainly one that makes sense, albeit perhaps only to the reader because Said wants no counsel, no argument, no other perspective from his listeners. The Sheikh says simply that Said has a roof, meaning he literally has a place to sleep, but nothing else; the meaning behind this comment is that Said isn't actually seeking spiritual guidance because he is so convinced that everything he has done and is doing is perfectly acceptable. Said doesn't seem to catch on to the Sheikh's comment, or, if he does, he stubbornly ignores it.
If there was a dog in the house—other than its owner, of course—it would now fill the universe with barking.
This quote refers to Said breaking into Rauf's house, but it is one of many that feature the word "dogs." Sometimes Said or the narrator (or even Nur) are talking about actual dogs, and sometimes they are talking about the police, the apparatus of the state. This quote aptly uses both definitions of the word, showcasing how negatively Said feels about the people who have wronged him and those who are out to get him. Similarly, at the end of the novel, Said is menaced both by actual police dogs and by the police themselves. Both are cruel, ravenous curs, out to attack a man simply for living as best he can (or so Said sees it).
You always act impulsively, Said, without thinking, but you mustn't rush this time; you must wait until you've arranged things, then swoop like an eagle.
Said tells himself this, but the reader will see, if they haven't already, that such counsel falls on deaf ears. Said is not thinking through his actions; he does not hesitate to try and rob Rauf, who knows exactly what kind of man he is, and he does not check if the man he shoots at Ilish's house is actually Ilish. This rashness continues with another murder of an innocent, and of several forays out into the hostile city that has a manhunt going for him. Said never seems to truly take his time or plan out his actions; he acts impulsively, without thinking. This quote merely adds to the preponderance of evidence that Said has great difficulty being honest with himself and analyzing his past and present actions.
With this revolver I can awake those who are asleep. They're the root of the trouble. They're the ones who've made creatures like Nabawiyya, Ilish, and Rauf Ilwan possible.
This is a curious comment, and perhaps the only one in the text that alludes to something beyond Said's personal vendetta. He does not say who are the people who are "asleep" and why they are the "root of the trouble" and are responsible for Nabawiyya, Ilish, and Rauf, but for a moment he toys with using his gun for something bigger than his own personal vendettas. He may be referring to those complicit in Egypt's authoritarian state, but more likely he is referring to average people whose apathy and desire for comfort meant that they turned a blind eye to power grabs from people like Rauf. Said will not pursue this line of thought, but it is a comment that speaks to why the people think he is a hero for a time.
A city of silence and truth, where success and failure, murderer and victim, come together, where thieves and policemen lie side by side in peace for the first and last time.
Said's society is very stratified—by wealth, class, and power—and he constantly fought, and continues to fight, against his rather marginalized position. What he realizes, looking out over the cemetery, is that only in death is everyone equal; it may seem worthwhile to pursue wealth and power in life, but life is fleeting and in death all inequities are effaced. It is hard to say whether or not this thought is comforting to Said. He is clearly still alive at this point, and so are his enemies, so the differences between them are stark. Yet if he achieves what he wants to achieve by sending them to the grave, he will definitively show them, and the rest of the world, that they are no longer better than anyone else.
The silence of the graves is more intense, but you can't switch on the light...Your eyes will get used to the dark.
Mahfouz often depicts Said in the dark, which is a commentary on the darkness in his soul and his inability to pursue the good. He is an exile, hunted, isolated; the darkness of Nur's flat, the darkness of the Sheikh's hut while he sleeps, the dim city streets, and the blackness of death itself are all fitting places for him. He comes into the light briefly when he is with Nur, but her luminescence is not enough to stem Said's darkness.
"There's a lot of intelligence in his eyes. His heart is as spotless as yours. You'll find he'll turn out, with God's will, a truly good man."
This quote is filled with dramatic irony for the reader, who by now knows that Said is not going to be a good man and does not have a spotless heart. He may have some intelligence, but not enough to chart a decent course for his life. There are a couple of ways to interpret this. One is that all children are more or less blameless and innocent, with a great deal of promise. We should consider it tragic that the decent and hopeful boy was warped by the world. On the other hand, Mahfouz has already cast doubt on the usefulness of the Sheikh in the modern world, and his sincere prediction may be yet one more example of how he is out of touch and really has no idea what it is like to be a man out in the world.
...he silently acknowledged he did love her and that he would not hesitate to give his own life to bring her safely back.
Said has been slowly building to this moment throughout his time with Nur. He moves from pity to appreciation, from taking her for granted to seeing her as a positive good in his life. This seems authentic to be sure, and it is disappointing that his quest for revenge has so warped him that he cannot decide to change course and try to be happy with Nur. However, it is also possible to doubt Said, given what we know of him. He only admits he loves her now that she is gone. It also seems a tad unbelievable that he would "give his own life" to bring her back, when he is still so full of desire to gain revenge against Rauf. He may have changed his feelings towards her, but Said has lied to himself in his own head numerous times, and this time may be no different.
