Alif the Unseen

This chapter functions as a prologue and takes place in Persia at an unspecified time long ago. Reza waits for sunset and the arrival of his visitor, called simply “the thing.” This “thing” is a jinn (a spirit in Arabian and Islamic mythology) that Reza has trapped and compels to tell the stories of its kind. Reza plans to compile the stories into a book, read them all, and achieve mythical abilities in order to bring his wife back from the dead. There is one story left. The jinn warns Reza he “will become someone else” upon hearing it (7). Reza scoffs and bids the creature to reveal the final tale.

The main story takes place in the modern-day Persian Gulf. Alif, a “gray hat” hacker, waits impatiently to hear from Intisar, his aristocratic girlfriend. A gray hat hacker is one who may violate laws or ethical standards (unlike a white hat hacker) but who does so without malicious intent (as contrasted with a black hat hacker). As a half-Arabic, half-Indian member of the lower class, Alif knows his relationship with Intisar is unlikely to last, but he wants to believe it will. He hears a knock on his bedroom wall, the signal his friend and neighbor