At the urging of his dying aunt, a young man of limited means forgoes marriage into comfortable society. He becomes husband to an unwed mother and father to a child. Their meager existence is threatened, however, when the woman he left at the altar reenters his life.

Sirkeci Pasha wants his wayward son Ahmet to marry a virtuous woman. Disguised as a beggar, Ahmet falls for Enis. But consumed by jealousy, he orders her death.