In this collection of stories, Naguib Mahfouz presents to us a variety of his amazing stories, and accompanies us on a journey into his world full of stories and conflicts, highlighting the hidden aspects of society and the intertwined relationships that form its fabric and connect its members, which is clearly evident in the story "The Notorious House," Mahfouz also digs into the human soul, searching for the reasons that give a person happiness or cause him misery, revealing the motives that move a person, as we see in the story "Before Departure.