In the Yacoubian Building, a multi-story building built seventy years ago in Cairo, people of different social classes live and work, constituting a faithful microcosm of contemporary Egyptian society (a similar theme is explored by M. Karagatsis in "10"). The author, following in the tradition of Naguib Mahfouz, observes his heroes, the residents of the building, rich and poor, good and bad, without judging them, with a tender and affectionate gaze, with pain and understanding. We experience the hopes and uprising of Taha, a young Islamist who dreams of becoming a policeman, the bitterness and disappointment of Hatim, a homosexual intellectual in a society that allows him pleasure but not love, the nostalgia of a glorious past of the fallen aristocrat Zaki, the misadventures of the poor and beautiful Busaina.

The characters, excellently portrayed, represent aspects of modern Egypt, where political corruption allies with unfair wealth and religious hypocrisy, where arrogance and impunity of the powerful translate into the exploitation of the weak, where youthful idealism can easily turn into extremism, and yet ideas and opinions for a society without violence still maintain their prestige. The novel shows us what everyone can see around them, but only literature can truly reveal.

The translation is based on the English translation by Humphrey Davies (published by The American University in Cairo Press, 2004) and the French translation by Gilles Gauthier (published by Actes Sud, 2006), while the translator consulted the Arabic original in certain cases.

The book was adapted into a film by director Marwan Hamed in 2006, in one of the most expensive productions of Egyptian cinema, which was successfully screened in the country and abroad (including at the Sao Paulo and Thessaloniki Film Festivals).