Abu-Lughod begins her analysis of love relationships in Awlad ‘Ali society by reminding readers that love relationships, as related to sexual relationships, “pose such a threat to the system [of Bedouin society] that they are the object of stringent control through symbolic manipulation” (208). Since modesty is a “moral virtue [… ,] the ultimate one” for women (208), then denial of sexual and romantic interest is critical to the maintenance of respect for people of all genders.

Although love relationships must be sidelined in public life, they are still a central focus because they are the object of greatest concern. They are also a central focus of poems: Abu-Lughod recognizes romantic love as the dominant theme of ghinnāwas. While “ordinary discourse” speaks pejoratively, if at all, of romantic love, “contradictory responses […] [of] poetic discourse of attachment and deep feeling” follow it (209). Thus, reactions to the ideas or events of love mirror reactions to death, for example, as discussed in “Honor and Poetic Vulnerability.”

Ghinnāwas often take up “the popular cultural theme of thwarted love,” but they are also the currency with which lovers, both in stories and in real life, “speak to each other […] [and] express their longing” (209).