"What hour is it?" Daoud asked.
"Past the third nocturn. Do you know what that means?"
"It was explained to me once, but now my memory seems to be drunk."
"Simply, dawn is not far off," said Celino. "The third nocturn is between midnight and dawn. The contessa's reception began at the first nocturn, between sunset and midnight. Tell me, did you never experience wine in Egypt?"
Daoud decided that, much as he liked Lorenzo, he did not want to confide any of Saadi's most secret teachings to an atheist.
"Many times we stayed up all night, drinking kaviyeh, talking and watching the dancers. But we do not drink wine."
"Really?" said Lorenzo, glancing at him. "Permit me to be skeptical. I know many Muslims who drink wine."
Daoud shook his head. "Most Mamelukes do not drink wine. When Baibars became sultan, he closed all the wine shops in El Kahira." He also decided not to tell Lorenzo that in private Baibars enjoyed the Tartar drink kumiss, made from the fermented milk of mares.
Lorenzo grunted. "Then you Mamelukes are stricter in your observance than many others who were born to Islam."
They passed the cathedral of San Giovenale. It was lit within, and the narrow stained glass windows glowed red, yellow, blue, and white.