Previous
Sami
Mohammed is a seven-year-old boy who Nuri first meets in Istanbul, waiting in a smuggler’s apartment with numerous other refugees. Mohammed is wearing all black and has black hair and black eyes. Although he does not look like Sami, the inquisitive child reminds Nuri of his lost son, and Nuri looks after Mohammed as they make their way across the sea. On several occasions in the present, Nuri sees Mohammed in the English bed and breakfast where he and Afra are staying. While it is unclear whether Nuri is dreaming or hallucinating, flashbacks eventually make it clear that Mohammed is not actually in England, because he disappeared when Nuri and Afra arrived in Greece. Flashing back to that time, Nuri waits for Mohammed for a month before leaving the island without him, though he worries for the boy’s safety constantly. Nuri’s visions of Mohammed in the bed and breakfast are surreal, with the boy telling him to look for a key and leading him through mysterious doors that transport him back to Aleppo. When Afra finally reveals to Nuri that she does not know who Mohammed is, he realizes he unknowingly created the boy as a substitute for Sami. Mohammed’s words and fears are Sami’s words and fears, and they allowed Nuri to confront his son’s memory from a safe distance.
Mohammed Quotes in The Beekeeper of Aleppo
The The Beekeeper of Aleppo quotes below are all either spoken by Mohammed or refer to Mohammed. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7 Quotes
I catch sight of my face in the mirror above the sink, and I pause with my hands by my ears. I look so different now, but I can’t quite put my finger on how. Yes, there are deep lines that were not there before, and even my eyes seem to have changed—they are darker and wider, always on the alert, like Mohammed’s eyes, but it’s not that; something else has changed, something unfathomable.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As I stood there with Afra and Mohammed and the other families, I felt lost, as if I was out alone in a dark cold sea with nothing to hold on to. This was the first time in a long time that I had felt any safety, any security, and yet in this moment the sky felt too big, the rising dusk held an unknown darkness.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes
I put the key in the lock, turn it, and open the door. An intense light dazzles me, and when my eyes adjust I see that I am high up on the top of a hill, looking down over Aleppo. There is a full moon, close to the horizon, full of the colors of the desert. A blood moon.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes
“[…]sometimes our bodies can find ways to cope when we are faced with things that are too much for us to bear. You saw your son die, Mrs. Ibrahim, and maybe something in you had to shut down.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Beekeeper of Aleppo LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Mohammed Character Timeline in The Beekeeper of Aleppo
The timeline below shows where the character Mohammed appears in The Beekeeper of Aleppo. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...waiting for Nuri to help her get dressed, rolling a marble belonging to someone named Mohammed between her fingers. Taking his time, Nuri exhorts the reader to look closely at the...
(full context)
...still existing in the hypothetical world where Afra can see. He is still waiting for Mohammed to find his way back to him and Afra (the narrative has not yet clarified...
(full context)
Chapter 2
...illuminates the garden. Nuri sees the shadow of a young boy and investigates. It is Mohammed, whose identity and presence remain unexplained; the boy greets him as “Uncle Nuri.” Mohammed tells...
(full context)
Chapter 3
Nuri keeps glancing to the garden doors, expecting to see Mohammed. He goes into the garden and brings the flightless bee back with him. The landlady...
(full context)
...Moroccan man’s footsteps in the hall outside their room, and he hears the sound of Mohammed’s marble rolling across the floor. After retrieving it, Nuri watches the night with wide eyes...
(full context)
Chapter 4
...harrowing journey of imprisonment and death threats. Later, Nuri returns to the garden to find Mohammed playing with his marble. He says he is looking for a key to get out,...
(full context)
Nuri flashes back to his time in Istanbul—where he met Mohammed—after he crossed the river into Turkey. Nuri and Afra pass through a border town on...
(full context)
...scared of everything, and she denies this. This is when Nuri notices a young boy (Mohammed) sitting on the floor, rolling a marble around. The boy seems to be on his...
(full context)
Later, Mohammed approaches Nuri on the balcony. His questioning eyes remind Nuri of Sami. The boy asks...
(full context)
...nature. He writes about this memory to Mustafa in an email and tells him about Mohammed and the progress of his journey. Thoughts of reuniting with Mustafa give him hope. Later,...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...bed, Nuri goes out to the garden again to watch the bee and look for Mohammed. Alone, he leans against the tree and listens to the sounds of the sea before...
(full context)
In the flashback, Nuri, Afra, and Mohammed are waiting on the shore to cross the sea to Greece. Another boat that left...
(full context)
...off all lights and make no noise until they reach international waters. Nuri sits with Mohammed and Afra, keeping one hand in the cold water. People whisper among themselves and comfort...
(full context)
...panic; the waves have gotten bigger and there is too much water in the boat. Mohammed is helping scoop water out with his hands, and several men jump out to lighten...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...another place. He flashes back to the fire on the beach where he, Afra, and Mohammed land after crossing the sea, on a Greek military island. Mohammed is holding Afra’s hand,...
(full context)
Nuri, Afra, and Mohammed wait for another NGO vessel to take them to another island. There are other refugees...
(full context)
Nuri tells Mohammed a story about a caliph who sends his servants on a quest to find the...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...changed in some unfathomable way. He lets the hot water steam up the mirror, hoping Mohammed will appear there. He dresses Afra in silence as she clutches the marble and the...
(full context)
...Nuri goes out to the courtyard and peers through the fence at the landlady’s garden. Mohammed was right when he described it as green; it is full of plants and personal...
(full context)
...wakes up to the sound of many bees and the marble rolling on the floor. Mohammed is there; he asks if Nuri found the key. When Nuri says the keys were...
(full context)
...of waves, and Nuri flashes back to taking another boat to the island of Leros. Mohammed says to Nuri that his first time on a boat was frightening, which reminds Nuri...
(full context)
After disembarking, Nuri, Afra, and Mohammed find NGO volunteers waiting for them. It is obvious there is some operational structure in...
(full context)
...the expanse, Nuri feels lost and unmoored despite the semblance of security. He, Afra, and Mohammed are led into a cabin divided with sheets to separate different families. They are told...
(full context)
Afra falls asleep, but her questions worry Nuri. He visualizes Mohammed’s dark eyes and Sami’s light ones, their voices merging into one. On the other side...
(full context)
In the morning, Mohammed is not in the cabin. Nuri goes out to look for him and makes his...
(full context)
...volunteer helps Nuri select clothes and toiletries, and he wanders along the harbor looking for Mohammed before entering a café.
(full context)
...chocolate. At a convenience store, he buys Nutella and bread, excited to give it to Mohammed. He finds an Internet café and checks his email for word from Mustafa. His cousin...
(full context)
Nuri returns to the camp and finds Afra waiting for him. He asks if Mohammed came back but she says nobody came. Nuri goes back out to find dinner and...
(full context)
...but says she felt her mother stroking her hair. Nuri leaves the food out for Mohammed but realizes the camp’s gates are now locked. He gets up and wanders through the...
(full context)
...They share the bread and Nutella before Nuri goes out once again to search for Mohammed. In the old asylum, he follows the sounds of children playing and finds some NGO...
(full context)
...watching the family who runs it mingling with the refugees. When he does not find Mohammed, he goes to the registration center to check on their paperwork. A frazzled man is...
(full context)
...is full of ghosts and “something not human.” Still, Nuri stalls, not wanting to leave Mohammed. Afra comes down with a terrible fever that makes her hallucinate that Sami is alive...
(full context)
Nuri leaves a note for Mohammed. He has waited for one month and looked every day for the boy to no...
(full context)
Chapter 8
Nuri wakes to the sound of Mohammed’s marble rolling again. He finds Mohammed sitting there with the key from the night before....
(full context)
Chapter 9
...the garden. Afra tells him to come and lie down, but Nuri can still hear Mohammed’s voice singing a lullaby, and it reminds him of Sami.
(full context)
...ever escape this place because the borders of other countries have closed. Nuri wonders if Mohammed was taken like the children here.
(full context)
...stops, and Angeliki closes her eyes. Nuri tries and fails to avoid thinking about Nadim, Mohammed, and Sami.
(full context)
Chapter 10
That night, Nuri dreams of Mohammed falling off the boat, only this time a little girl is saved instead of him....
(full context)
Chapter 11
Returning to the park, Nuri finds himself scanning groups of children for Mohammed once again. He finds he is unable to picture his own son, Sami. Angeliki is...
(full context)
Chapter 12
Nuri wakes to the sound of the marble once again. Mohammed is under the table; he says it is his house, the wooden one like in...
(full context)
Mohammed tells Nuri this is where the boys were, but he was dressed in black and...
(full context)
Chapter 13
Afra pleads with Nuri to tell her what is wrong. He asks why she has Mohammed’s marble. Afra sighs and tells him the marble belonged to Sami; she does not know...
(full context)
...is made of glass. He sees a child running and chases after him. It is Mohammed, but when Nuri catches up to him the boy transforms into Sami. Nuri realizes he...
(full context)
...if Allah will help them cross the sea, the same conversation Nuri imagined having with Mohammed in Istanbul. Sami wonders if Nuri remembers the boys by the river too, how Sami...
(full context)
Chapter 14
...the courtyard, amazed to find the bee still alive despite her surroundings. He knows that Mohammed is gone, that he created him. Nuri’s thoughts turn to memories of Sami—reading Sami books,...
(full context)
Nuri watches Afra and Mustafa, thinking of Mohammed, the boy he created to fill the void Sami left. Mustafa says that one day...
(full context)
