Dilshad

Dilshad is set in Muscat, the capital of Oman, in the first half of the twentieth century and the story is divided into three parts, each named after a district of the city. Dilshad, a young native of Muscat, of unknown parentage, grows up in extreme poverty in one of the Balochi areas of the city, experiencing Balochi as well as Arab culture. His daughter Mariam inherits his poverty and carefree nature, and she becomes everything to him, helping him cope with his blindness. However, their dire circumstances drive her to leave home and work in the house of a Muscat merchant, where she is initially content, but finally is forced to run away. Dilshad is a novel of hunger, sadness, adventure and love. Its multiple narrators speak different languages, pointing to the cultural diversity of Muscat.