Chapter 1: Nahri

At dawn in French-occupied Cairo, Nahri reads tea leaves for a wealthy Turkish basha while secretly assessing his health and that of his anxious brother, Arslan. Finding the basha healthy but greedy and Arslan harboring a hidden, serious lung disease, she stages a dramatic omen and prescribes an elaborate house-cleansing journey to Faiyum, extracting generous payment and a ring. After Arslan threatens her for witchcraft, her cut palm heals unnaturally fast, and she hides her earnings, frustrated by meager savings.

Nahri visits her partner, the Jewish apothecary Yaqub, collecting her cut for sending the bashas to buy costly oils. They bicker affectionately as she corrects his prescription, deduces a neighbor’s pregnancy, and deflects his pleas to leave Cairo amid war. He warns her against leading zars and provoking djinn; Nahri insists magic and spirits aren’t real, attributing her feats to skill and trickery.

At sunset in southern Cairo, Nahri leads a zar for Baseema, a troubled twelve-year-old. She stages music, incense, and ritual, gently smoothing Baseema’s unbalanced mind while keeping the audience engaged. Growing bold, she sings the zar songs in her nameless native tongue—and Baseema suddenly stills, projecting a clear, wordless question into Nahri’s mind: WHO ARE YOU?

Shaken but composed, Nahri resumes the rite, offers a chicken sacrifice, and has Baseema drink tamarind juice. She comforts the mother with cautious guidance, framing the girl’s condition as a lifelong companionship with a strong djinn and prescribing simple rituals. As the ceremony ends and payment is collected, Baseema briefly regards Nahri with unnerving, calculating calm before returning to dance, leaving Nahri unsettled.