In "Cairo: My City, Our Revolution", by Ahdaf Soueif, at the end of the second paragraph, Soueif writes "We don't know it yet, but the lights of Cairo will not come on tonight".
In 2011 there are mass demonstrations against corruption, poverty, and political repression. Organized by youth groups that are independent of traditional parties. They want Mubarak, president for almost thirty years to step down and allow free elections. Soueif is both a revolutionary and a writer. She doesn't want to lose touch with revolution so she both protests and writes. In the sentence above she tells us how this demonstration is going to end that night. A curfew is imposed on Cairo by the government. Soueif, wanted the book to be more than a record of the revolution. Her description of the present, by a glimpse into the future, is very vivid. They didn't know what would happen to them that night. It is a present that is constantly changing.
