Throughout Cairo at sundown during Holy Month, men come out into the streets to eat after a day of abstaining from food, water, cigarettes, even chewing gum and sex of any kind. If all goes perfectly, they will avoid harmful thoughts also during daylight hours. If you go out shopping or just strolling at midday you will find people obviously suffering from lack of hydration, or in withdrawal from caffeine or nicotine. This continues for a lunar month.

It is common in Cairo in all seasons to see young men reading the Quran in cafes, parked in vehicles, or sitting in their places of business. The religious devotion multiplies during Ramadan. An unusual cast of characters can be seen in public cracking open God’s Word, including policemen on duty, who carry their prayer mats with them and will worship on a sidewalk if necessary. During the holiday the atmosphere seems to lighten in this gigantic metropolis. Much like other universal celebrations, it is a way of marking time, sweet in the moment but bitter when it evokes memories of painful losses and unwanted estrangements.