The simile of deserted tombs
As Fernea walks alongside her husband up the El Nahra road, they see an electric pole burning at the top of the shrine. The other notable things they see are the mud-thatched houses they compare to tombs. The Fernea says, "The mud-and-thatch houses nearby were shut tight and darkened by the rain; they rose on either side of us like deserted tombs.”
Simile of reputation
Mohammed is a special guy working for Fernea and her husband, Bob. However, the reader notes that Mohammed is not an ordinary Muslim who wants to work for wages. Still, he takes the responsibility of taking care of his guests and, more importantly, protecting their reputation like his family's. Fernea says, “Although he worked for us, he did not only work for wages. We became his special responsibility; he explained to Bob that our reputation had to be protected like that of his own family.”
The simile of the outhouse
Fernea sees an outhouse well protected, and she learns that it belongs to the beautiful young wife of the Sheik. However, what stands out is that the house is heavily protected by a thorn camel, which is arranged like a barbed wrier. Fernea says, "The Sheik's beautiful young wife, for whom this house had been built, had been well protected here from preying eyes, I thought, and intruders would have had an uncomfortable time getting in over the prickly camel-thorn that was arranged like a barbed-wire, six inches high, all around the top of the wall.”
Square eaves
On her way home, Fernea comes across a traditional house in the village whose roof beams resemble square eaves. Fernea recounts, “The roof beams, jutting out at regular intervals like square eaves, were covered with a thatch of mud and reed mats that looked quite inadequate to keep out the rain.”
