It is based on events in the life of Saint Thaïs of Egypt, a legendary convert to Christianity who is said to have lived in the 4th century.

Paphnuce, an ascetic hermit of the southern Egyptian desert, along the Nile, in the Thebaid, journeys to Alexandria to find Thais, the libertine beauty whom he knew as a youth.

Later, as she is dying and can only see heaven opening before her, he comes to her side and tells her that her faith is an illusion, and that he loves her.

[3] David Frischmann adapted the novel into a short story in Hebrew, called "Ir Hamiklat" ("City of Shelter).

[7] The comic poet Newman Levy reviewed and summarized the story in his poem "Wicked Alexandria" in response to seeing the Massenet opera.