Written after the country gained independence, We Have Buried the Past follows two generations of the al-Tihamis family whose members characterise distinctive aspects of Moroccan society, and whose lives reflect the profound social changes taking place during the period. Bridging two worlds, the story begins during the quieter days of the late colonial period;here we are introduced to a world of seemingly timeless tradition, the al-Tihami household presided over by the family patriarch, Hajj Muhammad, with religion as an unquestioned and all-pervading force. However, the coming upheaval and imminent social transition is reflected through the lives of Ha Muhammad's three sons in particular his second son, Abd al-Rahman, who will defy his father and come to symbolise the break between the old ways and the new.