Exhalation

Told in the third person, this story centers on Hassan al-Hubbaul, a rope maker. Upon stepping through a Gate of Years in Cairo, an astrologer offers to read Hassan’s fortune. Hassan refuses, feeling certain about his future. The parting words of the astrologer, however, catch his attention: “Can you be so sure? What about the renowned merchant Hassan al-Hubbaul, who began as a rope-maker?” (9). Curious, Hassan asks around, and he eventually finds himself at an elaborate estate.

The property belongs to his older self. Hassan learns his older self-made the same visit when he was Hassan’s age. The two have dinner. The younger Hassan doesn’t learn about how he becomes rich, or how he meets his future wife. The older Hassan simply advises the younger to stay to the north side on a street he frequents. They part ways, although the older Hassan remarks that this won’t be their only meeting.

The younger Hassan heeds the advice and avoids injury when a horse runs through the street he is walking on. He returns to the older Hassan and asks, “Were you injured by the horse when you walked by?” (11). The older Hassan was also unharmed, as he received the same advice.

The younger Hassan avoids several more mishaps by listening to the older Hassan, although his future-self is still coy about his wealth and marriage. Hassan is therefore surprised when he is pickpocketed. He catches the would-be thief, a boy, but decides to let him go. When he asks the older Hassan why he didn’t warn him, the older Hassan responds, “Did you not enjoy the experience?” (12). The younger Hassan realizes he enjoyed not knowing the future, and furthermore, he valued his chance to practice mercy on the boy.

The older Hassan then gives the younger instructions to ride out to a tree and dig under the heaviest rock he can move. The young Hassan obeys and finds a chest filled with treasure buried there.

The younger Hassan pledges to use the treasure well, and the two part ways for the last time. Hassan uses the money to expand his rope-making trade. He happily marries, and his wife helps him expand his business. Hassan treats others fairly and lives a long and happy life before dying. 

Back in the shop in Baghdad, Fuwaad mulls over the story, still skeptical of using the gate. He wonders if learning of your future mistakes can help you prevent them. Bashaarat assures him no, there is no changing your future. Bashaarat explains the gate further with another story. 

Ajib is a modest weaver of rugs. “After hearing the story of Hassan” (15), Ajib goes through the Gate of Years, expecting to find his future-self in a similar position. He searches the wealthy districts, only to eventually discover that his older self still lives in the same house he currently resides in. When the older Ajib leaves the house with his wife, Ajib enters their house and looks around, finding plain furnishings, much to his dismay. Before leaving, Ajib investigates the chest he keeps his savings in and finds it “filled with gold dinars” (16). 

Ajib is perplexed that his older self would live such a modest lifestyle despite the gold. He decides he will appreciate the gold more and steals the chest from his older self, lugging it back through the Gate of Years.

Ajib spends the money lavishly, buying expensive clothes, renting a nice house, and hiring a private chef. With his new heightened stature, Ajib presents himself to be a suitable husband for a woman he has always desired, Taahira. The two throw a lavish wedding. However, only a week later, Ajib comes home to find the house in disarray and Taahira missing.

Ajib prays, and the next day, a man visits and demands “ten thousand dinars” (18) from him. Ajib laments, “I have been wasteful. I swear by the name of the Prophet that I do not have that much” (16). Still, Ajib pays the man with all the money he has left, which the stranger accepts, and Taahira returns.

Ajib and Taahira are happy to be reunited, although Ajib says, “I feel as if I have been punished for my misdeeds” (18). Ajib confesses that someone gave him his wealth but that it doesn’t “need to be repaid” (19). Angered, Taahira asks, “So you are content that this other man paid for our wedding? […] Am I your wife, then, or this other man’s?” (19). Determined to prove his love to Taahira, Ajib pledges to repay the money.

Ajib and Taahira commit to a modest life. They move back into Ajib’s old house and go to work for Taahira’s brother. Rather than buy new furniture, they repair old pieces and save every penny they can. For a time, their outlook is positive: “For years, Ajib smiled whenever he dropped coin into the chest, telling Taahira that it was a reminder of how much he valued her” (19). The story ends on a sad note, however, as Ajib and Taahira resent each other for their forced frugality.  

Back in the shop, Fuwaad and Bashaarat discuss the first two stories. About Ajib, Fuwaad says, “He must live with the consequences of his actions, just as I must live with mine” (20). Fuwaad then listens to one last story.

This story focuses on the perspective of Raniya, Hassan’s wife. Raniya is surprised when she sees Hassan having dinner with a younger version of himself, the same dinner from the rope-maker’s story. Raniya regards the younger version of her husband with passion and becomes titillated by his presence. She goes through the Gate of Years, into the past, and rents a house to stay in.

Raniya follows the younger Hassan, keeping her face veiled, and tries to build up the courage to speak to him. She watches Hassan inquire about selling a necklace to a jeweler. Two men nearby see the necklace Hassan is trying to sell and recognize it as one from the chest they buried; the same chest Hassan dug up to become rich. The men vow for revenge. Panicked about what to do, Raniya feels her presence is divine intervention: “Allah must have brought her here so that he might use her as his instrument” (22).

Raniya goes back to her time, retrieving the same necklace from her own belongings. Then, she utilizes the Gate of Years to go into the future and collaborates with an older version of herself. Together, each with their own version of the necklace, they trick the thieves into believing the necklace is commonplace, saving Hassan’s life. After, Raniya invites the younger Hassan to her rented house, and they make love, her identity still concealed to him. Remembering their wedding night fondly, Raniya is surprised “to find Hassan’s movements were clumsy and awkward” (24). She realizes she herself must be the one to teach him confidence. They carry out a brief affair. Hassan becomes a better lover, and Raniya appreciates it more than her younger self had.

After a short while, Raniya ends their affair. Hassan reluctantly accepts, and Raniya returns to her time. She is happy to see the older Hassan again, but does not mention anything that happened.

Fuwaad hears this final story and realizes “even though the past is unchangeable, one may encounter the unexpected when visiting it” (25). Bashaarat replies, “We cannot change [the future or the past], but we can know both more fully” (25).

Fuwaad decides he will use the Gate of Years to go to the past. However, as the gate in front of him is new, it cannot go to the past. Determined, Fuwaad takes the long journey to Cairo, where the older Gate of Years will allow him to go back in time.

Fuwaad reveals he was married long ago to a woman named Najya. Before leaving for a business trip, Fuwaad and Najya argued over his potential participation in the slave trade. Fuwaad is cruel to Najya and leaves on his trip. When he returns, he discovers Najya died when a mosque wall collapsed, and he feels responsible for her death: “as if [he] had killed her with [his] own hands” (28). Overcome with guilt, Fuwaad has tried to live an upstanding life to atone for his mistakes. He believes the opportunity to take the Gate of Years to the past could be a sign from Allah.

Fuwaad finally enters the Gate of Years in Cairo, and he joins a caravan going to Baghdad. The journey is arduous and met with one problem after another. Fuwaad makes it to Baghdad the day of the accident but finds his wife has already died. Standing in the street, a nurse approaches Fuwaad with a message: “[Your wife] wished me to tell you that while her life was short, it was made happy by the time she spent with you” (34). Hearing this moves Fuwaad to tears, and he realizes the import of his time travelling: “My journey to the past had changed nothing, but what I had learned had changed everything” (35).

Roaming the streets after curfew, Fuwaad is arrested. Since he’s from the future, his neighbors cannot verify his identity. Fuwaad uses his knowledge of the future to gain an audience with the caliph. We learn this is where the story began, and that the Fuwaad of the future is recounting his story to the caliph 20 years in his past. As the story ends, Fuwaad declares the most valuable thing he knows: “Nothing erases the past. There is repentance, there is atonement, and there is forgiveness. That is all, but that is enough” (36).