Hamid and Zainab love each other but they cannot be together. Hamid is accused of slander and expelled from the village but they retain their love.

Growing up in West Sumatra in the 1920s, Hamid and Zainab come from families from very different social classes. Hamid is poor, while Zainab is wealthy. Hamid receives a scholarship from Zainab's father because Hamid's mother works for Zainab's family. Hamid and Zainab fall in love and dream of finding a way for society to accept their union, and also to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.—Anonymous