[1][2] The novel follows Ukhayyad, a young Tuareg nomad from the Libyan desert, and his beloved piebald Mahri camel.

Ukhayyad marries and has a son, but poverty forces him to pawn the camel to a man named Dodo, who purports to be his wife's cousin.

He is reunited with his beloved camel, but people begin to claim that he "sold his wife and child for a handful of gold dust."

A sign that the latter did not succeed in reading it, but he kept holding on to the ablaq until the vow was overturned and Ukhayyad became the sacrifice offered to the divine Tanit.

The legend appears within the text alive and interactive, shaping the course of events and affecting the development of the characters.