Mukhtar al-Kahhal left no doctor of any renown without seeking a cure for an extreme weakness that made him very forgetful and unable to save himself from embarrassing situations unsuitable to his position in society. Imported as well as local drugs failed to cure him, and he remained prey to his infirmity. But when he glimpsed Rasha, the young woman who walked on the ground as if she were flying, he jumped like one who had come into contact with boiling water. He forgot that he was sixty, had been married four times without producing children, and that each marriage had ended in divorce and mutual recrimination. He wanted to marry Rasha as quickly as possible, and her family enthusiastically welcomed the match for he was well connected, belonged to an old family, and his wealth was beyond measure.
Mukhtar al-Kahhal’s forgetfulness was infectious, for all those with whom he came into contact became forgetful like him. Rasha’s parents forgot to consult her about the person she was about to marry, and Rasha forgot to reproach them because they did not consult her about the man who was going to be her life-partner and whom she was going to be looking at day and night.
As he had wished, Mukhtar al-Kahhal married Rasha in the quickest possible time and his neighbors whispered that an abundance of wealth turned a skeleton into a champion of champions.
When a month had passed after their marriage, Mukhtar al-Kahhal bought many sheep, had them slaughtered, and distributed fresh meat to the poor and the unfortunate to celebrate the pregnancy of Rasha. But he prevented her from consulting any doctors and charged a trusty old woman from the Kahhal family with taking care of her and looking after her pregnancy. After nine months Rasha gave birth to a boy with blond hair, and Mukhtar distributed generously of his wealth to those in need, and they called upon heaven to grant him a new baby every year. The midwife, however, found it strange that the child looked very much like Dr. Abdel Ghani al-Muzayyab, and she looked up to heaven with piety, acknowledging that God was indeed omnipotent.
The following year, Rasha gave birth to a boy with black, hair that was coarse and stiff, and the midwife wondered about chance occurrences that made the child look like Qasim al-Tayyan, the construction worker. She was content to say that the Creator can do as He sees fit.
The third year, Rasha gave birth to a daughter with very fair skin, large greenish eyes, and fine black hair. The old midwife was surprised that the girl resembled the pharmacist Abbas al-Hakim, and she said that the Creator was master and his creatures nothing more than slaves created in order to be obedient.
The fourth year, Rasha gave birth to a boy who was tall and thin, and had a big nose. The old midwife marveled at the strange resemblance between him and the new chief of police, and she murmured that God metes out rewards without reckoning the cost.
When what the old midwife was saying about the resemblance of his children to other men reached his ears, Mukhtar al-Kahhal sent after her and threatened to cut off her tongue if she continued spreading her rumors. But she was not intimidated. She stuck her tongue out and said: “Here! Cut it off!”
“You blame me,” she added irritably, “yet no one deserves blame except your father, God have mercy on his soul. He was wild about married women, and made many conquests. No woman was safe from him, and if God had not ordered us to protect honor, I would have told you all that I knew. The mothers of Dr. Muzayyab, al-Tayyan, the pharmacist, and the chief of police were your father’s lovers. He was given choice morsels of meat, and their husbands got bones, nagging, and grumbling.
Mukhtar al-Kahhal was pleased with what he heard and the earth seemed to him to be a land of intimacy, full of brothers whom he did not know and who did not know him.
The fifth year, Rasha became pregnant but she died in childbirth. Yet the old woman was certain that if the unborn child had been destined to live, he would have looked like Adli al-Mahmoud, who moved from one state of idle joblessness to another. The old woman then declared that God was wise and merciful.