Synopsis

Mahmoud Saber is a surgeon of modest origin, born in a village in the Tunisian Sahel and raised in a convent of Catholic sisters; he is married to a French woman and a father of a little girl. Separated from his wife, he returned to Tunisia and practiced his profession in the clinic of Doctor Abdallah Souilah, a notable attached to France and married to a daughter of a Corsican policeman, Marcelle Souilah née Pascalini. Their daughter Sabiha wishes to marry Hamda Srairi, anesthesiologist in the clinic and underground activist at Néo-Destour, but he rejects her. She then turns to Saber and the wife. The latter, imprisoned for a few days by the Nazi troops occupying the country, lost his diplomas but continued to practice his profession with the agreement of Doctor Souilah. It was then that Salem Mardoum, nurse in the clinic and lover of Marcelle Souilah, denounced to the police the illegal work of Saber, as well as the militant activity of his son-in-law Hamda married to his daughter Lilia; this one is condemned to twenty years of forced labor and does not leave prison until the advent of independence, while Saber and Sabiha divorce following the lie of Salem according to which Saber had a relation with Lilia. Salem Mardoum and Marcelle Souilah are finally murdered by Mokhtar, adopted son and driver of doctor Abdallah Souilah.For their part, the Mahrous are a maraboutic family of the former Tunisian bourgeoisie: Mamiya Mahrous is the administrator (mqadma) of the zaouia of Sidi Mahrous, a saint buried in a room (kbou) of the family home, a large house Arab-Muslim style. She has a son, Abdelmajid, alcoholic, submissive and complected, a brother, Baccar, secretary by profession, and an older sister, Zneikha who loves Abdelmajid as her son. Mamiya is in conflict with Abdallah Souilah who considers that the zaouïa competes with his clinic. Dalila, a beautiful, poor girl, and her deaf and dumb mother, Aziza, are dismissed from the home of Fadhila Naouali, wife of a wealthy merchant, Salah Naouali. Baccar Mahrous then welcomes them into his home, but, sexually harassed by Abdelmajid Mahrous. Dalila ends up leaving the house with her mother to go to Zohra, a modest woman who rents a room in a house belonging to Fadhila Naouali. Dalila then begins to demonstrate mystical impulses, leading the women of the city to visit her. Following these events, Baccar Mahrous asked Mahmoud Saber to consult Dalila, who fell in love with him. Fadhila, wanting to take advantage of this new situation, offers a room to Dalila and her mother. Abdelmajid, in love with Dalila, wishes to marry her, but her mother initially refuses, due to the condition and the very modest origins of the girl, but ends up accepting. Abused by Fadhila, Dalila and Aziza are welcomed by the Mahrous and Dalila becomes engaged with Abdelmajid. However, Bouraoui El Hnach, a vagrant enriched during the Second World War, also wanted to marry Dalila and therefore harassed Abdelmajid, which did not prevent the couple from getting married. One night, when they come home from a singing cafe, Mamiya Mahrous sends them away from her house. Abdelmajid then stops drinking, rents a small house and starts working with Mokded, a former waiter of modest rural origin, who became an accountant at Fadhila after the death of her husband. Saber's imprisonment causes grief to Dalila; Abdelmajid then struck her, causing the loss of the child she had been carrying for eight months. The couple ends up returning to the house of the Mahrous and Abdelmajid by joining the fellagas in the mountain where he dies as a martyr. Saber decides to declare his love to Dalila who, while passing out, asks her to leave her. Mamiya paralyzed, it is ultimately Dalila who becomes the mqadma of the zaouia. Born of an unknown father, it turns out that she is the biological daughter of Abdallah Souilah. Mahmoud Saber leaves Tunisia. Fadhila, widowed, insists on marrying Mokded despite their age difference, but Mokded meets Hallouma, daughter of Zohra, and the two fall in love. Mokded fled with Hallouma the night of his wedding with Fadhila, who remarried with Bouraoui El Hnach. Written by: brahamdali