A woman who is the owner of a group of shops discovers, after the death of her husband, that he was married to another woman. She decides to marry one of her employees, who tries to make her happy with all sincerity. But he meets a beautiful young widow, which leads into trouble.

Abu al-Ma'ati disguies himself as a janitor of a building to escape justice, he meets a dancer and work together in prostitution and drug trade, but events turn when he decides to run for election.

After we last see him in "Alexandria, Why?" Egyptian filmmaker Yehia Mourad is in his thirties, and successful in his work, he has grown distant from his wife and children and suffers a symbolic blockage of the heart while shooting the final scenes of his latest film. After being flown to England for evaluation, it's determined that Yehia must undergo emergency surgery. Fact and fiction blend seamlessly—with healthy doses of cleverly absurdist fantasy—as the film explores the various personalities and forces that have made Yehia (and Youssef Chahine) the man he has become.

The lives of a group of simple people who are living on the roof of a building in Zamalek are intertwined, among whom is Nabila, a widow living with her son whose uncle wants to seize his inheritance, and Farid, her neighbor who stands beside her to help with her problem.