Sheikh Al-Junaydi is a Sufi Muslim and Said's late father's spiritual advisor. Firstly, note that Sufism is a sect of Islam, known for their peaceful and meditative nature. Sufi principle compromises of dedication to worship and to Allah and abstinence from vice, wealth, worldly prestige and material possessions. Sheikh Ali al-Junaydi’s first words to Said are “peace and God’s compassion be upon you,”
However, he recognizes that Said’s concern is an immediate need and want is for food and shelter, not dedication to God. “You seek a roof, not an answer,” the Sheikh admonishes. In response to this, the Sheikh says “Take a copy of the Koran and read. . . . Also repeat the words: ‘Love is acceptance, which means obeying His commands and refraining from what He has prohibited and contentment with what He decrees and ordains.’ ” However, unlike Rauf who was uprooted by the present and carried away
Sheikh Al-Junaydi is part of Said's childhood, like Rauf Illwan. Seeing the Sheikh's house and staying in it, evokes memories and associations for Said. Said feels a thousand ties binding him to this place, of childhood, dreams, a loving father and thoughts of heaven. This is in contrast to the sense of detachment Said feels from other places such as Rauf's villa. The continuity and the openness of the Sheikh's house to Said, is symbolic of the lack of change of their inhabitants and the facts that they have not betrayed him, in contrast to places such as Rauf's villa. When recalling memories, Said mentions the "forgotten happiness" which he no longer remembers. This is an indication of his alienation from the innocence of his childhood, which starts of with his father's death and thus, the removal of the only active connection with the Sheikh's world.
The Sheikh can stretch language to signify an array of symbols that seemingly stand outside language. Said acknowledges this, “This was the language of old times again, where word had a double meaning.” For instance, when Said says “I got out of jail today.”, the Sheikh replies with “You have not come out of jail.” tearing the word 'jail' out of its limited denotation and implying a new and broader significance, telling Said that he is still in what can be considered an 'existential jail'.
The house of the Sheikh becomes Said's refuge. He goes there after each of his failures such as when his daughter Sana rejects him, when he failed to kill Ilish, when Nur fails to return and when he is wracked by hunger and loneliness. He comes to see it as his sole refuge: “Forgive my coming to your house like this. But there’s nowhere else in the world for me to go.” and “What other refuge have I?”.
The Sheikh continuously offers Said the opportunity to reject worldly temptations such as his path to revenge, in favor of a spiritual path. However, the Sheikh's statements seem to have an air of 'universality' which makes it difficult for Said Mahran to communicate with him. This is because Said's perception is imprisoned in his obsession with his immediate needs and wants. Furthermore, Said can only produce an illusory picture of reality, seen in his statements such as "If you're oblivious of things, things would conceal themselves from you" and "I don't care about shadows."
The Sheikh acts as a moral voice throughout the novel, yet Said is unable to accept or comprehend the Sheikh's guidance. After accidentally killing a man at the door of Ilish Sidra’s old apartment, Said visits al-Junaydi again. This time Said ignores the morning prayers of the Sheikh’s disciples and falls asleep for many hours. When he wakes the Sheikh observes, “You’ve had a long sleep, but you know no rest.... Your burning heart yearns for shade, yet continues forward under the fire of the sun.” Said cannot comprehend the Sheikh’s simple wisdom. After the meaningless shootings outside Ilish’s apartment and Rauf Ilwan’s villa, the public sympathy Said once possessed erodes. Said's inability to accept the Sheikh’s offer of redemption through religion results in tragic consequences. “I am alone with my freedom,” Said laments, “or rather I’m in the company of the Sheikh, who is lost in heaven, repeating words that cannot be understood by someone approaching hell.” Mahfouz presents Sheikh Al-Junaydi as a foil to Said and uses him in order to present Said opportunities to avoid his tragic fate. Said's ignorance and unwillingness to take the opportunity to change, furthers Said's spiraling downfall as a tragic hero, leading to his greater than deserved fate.
Lastly, an intriguing viewpoint is that the Sheikh's system can be considered authoritarian. According to the Sheikh's perspective, love of Allah requires putting one's faith and trust in him which leads to an ever greater virtue which is accepting whatever He wills. This acceptance is exemplified through the archetype the Sheikh chooses to refer to when he says “And as he was impaled on the stake he smiled and said: “It was God’s will that I should meet Him thus.” Wherever Said turns to he is required to submit to some type of authority. Society requires him to comply within its law, Rauf Illwan wants him to comply within the dictates of Revolution and the Sheikh wants him to comply with the Will of God.
Word Count: 887
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