The books' titles are taken from actual streets in Cairo, the city of Mahfouz's childhood and youth.
The trilogy follows the life of the Cairene patriarch El-Sayyid Ahmad Abdel Gawad and his family across three generations, from World War I to the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952.
Kamal who is the youngest son of El-Sayyid Ahmad Abdel Gawad. The three novels represent the three phases of Kamal's life from childhood to youth to adulthood.