Inside Laila too a battle was being waged : guilt on one side, partnered with shame, and, on the other, the conviction that what she and Tariq had done was not sinful; that it had been natural, good, beautiful, even inevitable, spurred by the knowledge that they might never see each other again.

In many parts of the world, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. But I think we need women to solve the problems that men create.

When I go to Afghanistan, I realize I've been spared, due to a random genetic lottery, by being born to people who had the means to get out. Every time I go to Afghanistan I am haunted by that.

The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.

True redemption is...when guilt leads to good.

The Chinese say it's better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one.

She was the trembler of knees, the spiller of teacups.