Naguib Mahfouz

This article is about the novelist. For the doctor, seeNaguib Pasha Mahfouz.

Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha(Arabic:نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا,IPA:[næˈɡiːbmɑħˈfuːzˤ];11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptianwriterwho won the1988 Nobel Prize in Literature.In awarding the prize, theSwedish Academydescribed him as a writer "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind".Mahfouz is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers inArabic literature,along withTaha Hussein,to explore themes ofexistentialism.He is the only Egyptian to win theNobel Prizein Literature. He published 35 novels, over 350 short stories, 26 screenplays, hundreds of op-ed columns for Egyptian newspapers, and seven plays over a 70-year career, from the 1930s until 2004. All of his novels take place in Egypt, and always mention the lane which equals the world. His most famous works includeThe Cairo TrilogyandChildren of Gebelawi.Many of Mahfouz's works have been made intoEgyptianand foreign films; no Arab writer exceeds Mahfouz in number of works that have been adapted for cinema and television. While Mahfouz's literature is classified asrealistliterature,existentialthemes appear in it.

Naguib Mahfouz ON OME ORE
Mahfouz in 1980s
Native name	نجيب محفوظ
Born	Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (1911-12-11)11 December 1911 Cairo,Khedivate of Egypt
Died	30 August 2006(2006-08-30)(aged 94) Agouza,Giza Governorate,Egypt
Occupation	Novelist,screenwriter,andplaywright
Nationality	Egyptian
Period	1932–2004
Genre	Novel,short story
Subject	Egyptian Lane
Literary movement	Literary realism
Notable works	The Cairo Trilogy,Children of our Alley,andThe Harafish
Notable awards	Order of the Nile Nobel Prize for Literature
Spouse	Atiyatullah Ibrahim ​ (m.1954)​
Children	2

Early life and education

Mahfouz was born in a lower middle-class Muslim Egyptian family inOld Cairoin 1911. The first part of his compound given name was chosen in appreciation of the well-known obstetrician,Naguib Pasha Mahfouz,who oversaw his difficult birth.Mahfouz was the seventh and the youngest child, with four brothers and two sisters, all of them much older than him. (Experientially, he grew up an "only child".) The family lived in two popular districts of Cairo: first, in the Bayt al-Qadi neighborhood in the Gamaleya quarter in the old city, from where they moved in 1924 toAbbaseya,then a new Cairo suburb north of the old city, locations that would provide the backdrop for many of Mahfouz's later writings. His father, Abdel-Aziz Ibrahim, whom Mahfouz described as having been "old-fashioned", was acivil servant,and Mahfouz eventually followed in his footsteps in 1934. Mahfouz's mother, Fatimah, was the daughter of Mustafa Qasheesha, anAl-Azharsheikh, and although illiterate herself, took the boy Mahfouz on numerous excursions to cultural locations such as theEgyptian Museumand thePyramids.

The Mahfouz family were devout Muslims and Mahfouz had a strict Islamic upbringing. In an interview, he elaborated on the stern religious climate at home during his childhood. He stated, "You would never have thought that an artist would emerge from that family."

TheEgyptian Revolution of 1919had a strong effect on Mahfouz, although he was at the time only seven years old. From the window he saw British soldiers firing at the demonstrators in an effort to disperse them.According to Mahfouz, "You could say... that the one thing which most shook the security of my childhood was the 1919 revolution", he later said.

In his early years, Mahfouz read extensively and was influenced by Hafiz Najib,Taha HusseinandSalama Moussa,theFabianintellectual.

After completing his secondary education, Mahfouz was admitted in 1930 to theEgyptian University(nowCairo University), where he studiedphilosophy,graduating in 1934. By 1936, having spent a year working on an M.A. in philosophy, he decided to discontinue his studies and become a professional writer. He published his first work inAl Majalla Al Jadida,a magazine started bySalama Musain 1929.Mahfouz then worked as a journalist forArrissalah,and contributed short stories toAl-HilalandAl-Ahram.

Civil service

After receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy fromCairo Universityin 1934, Mahfouz joined the Egyptian civil service, where he continued to work in various positions and ministries until retirement in 1971. He served first as a clerk at Cairo University, then, in 1938, in theMinistry of Islamic Endowments (Awqaf)as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Islamic Endowments. In 1945, he requested a transfer to theal-Ghuri Mausoleumlibrary, where he interviewed residents of his childhood neighborhood as part of the "Good Loans Project".In the 1950s, he worked as Director of Censorship in the Bureau of Arts, as Director of the Foundation for the Support of the Cinema, and finally as a consultant to theMinistry of Culture.

Writing career

Mahfouz in 1960s

Mahfouz published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of screenplays, and five plays over a 70-year career. Possibly his most famous work,The Cairo Trilogy,depicts the lives of three generations of different families in Cairo fromWorld War Iuntil after the1952 military coupthat overthrewKing Farouk.He was a board member of the publisherDar el-Ma'aref.Many of his novels were serialized inAl-Ahram,and his writings also appeared in his weekly column, "Point of View". Before the Nobel Prize only a few of his novels had appeared in the West.

Writing style and themes

Most of Mahfouz's early works were set inCairo.Abath Al-Aqdar (Mockery of the Fates)(1939),Rhadopis(1943), andKifah Tibah (The Struggle of Thebes)(1944) were historical novels written as part of a larger unfulfilled 30-novel project. Inspired bySir Walter Scott(1771–1832), Mahfouz planned to cover the entirehistory of Egyptin a series of books. However, following the third volume, his interest shifted to current settings and issues, as well as the psychological impact ofsocial changeon ordinary people.

Mahfouz'sproseis characterised by the blunt expression of his ideas. His written works cover a broad range of topics, including the controversial and taboo such associalism,homosexuality, and God. Writing about some of these subjects was prohibited in Egypt.

Mahfouz's works often deal withEgypt's development during the 20th century,and combined intellectual and cultural influences from both East and West. His own exposure toforeign literaturebegan in his youth with the enthusiastic consumption ofWestern detective stories,Russian classics,andmodernist writersasMarcel Proust,Franz KafkaandJames Joyce.Mahfouz's stories are almost always set in the heavily populated urban quarters of Cairo, where his characters, usually ordinary people, try to cope with the modernization of society and the temptations ofWestern values.

Mahfouz's central work in the 1950s was theCairo Trilogy,which he completed before theJuly Revolution.The novels were titled with the street namesPalace Walk,Palace of Desire,andSugar Street.Mahfouz set the story in the parts of Cairo where he grew up. The novels depict the life of the patriarch el-Sayyed Ahmed Abdel Gawad and his family over three generations, fromWorld War Iuntil 1944. Mahfouz stopped writing for some years after finishing the trilogy.

Disappointed in theNasserrégime, which had overthrown the monarchy in 1952, he started publishing again in 1959, now prolifically pouring out novels, short stories, journalism, memoirs, essays, and screenplays.He stated in a 1998 interview that he "long felt that Nasser was one of the greatest political leaders in modern history. I only began to fully appreciate him after he nationalized theSuez Canal."His non-fiction, including his journalism and essays and his writing on literature and philosophy, were published in four volumes from 2016.

His 1966 novelTharthara Fawq Al-Nīl(Adrift on the Nile) is one of his most popular works. It was later made into a film calledChitchat on the Nileduring the régime ofAnwar al-Sadat.The story criticizes the decadence of Egyptian society during the Nasser era. It wasbannedbySadatto avoid provoking Egyptians who still loved former president Nasser. Copies of thebanned bookwere hard to find prior to the late 1990s.

TheChildren of Gebelawi(1959, also known asChildren of the Alley), one of Mahfouz's best known works, portrayed the patriarch Gebelaawi and his children, average Egyptians living the lives ofCainandAbel,Moses,Jesus,andMohammed.Gebelawi builds a mansion in anoasisin the middle of a barren desert; his estate becomes the scene of a family feud that continues for generations. "Whenever someone is depressed, suffering or humiliated, he points to the mansion at the top of the alley at the end opening out to the desert, and says sadly, 'That is our ancestor's house, we are all his children, and we have a right to his property. Why are we starving? What have we done?'" The book wasbanned throughout the Arab worldexcept inLebanonuntil 2006 when it was first published in Egypt. The work was prohibited because of its allegedblasphemythrough theallegoricalportrayal of God and themonotheisticAbrahamicfaiths of Judaism, Christianity, andIslam.

In the 1960s, Mahfouz further developed the theme that humanity is moving further away from God in hisexistentialistnovels. InThe Thief and the Dogs(1961) he depicted the fate of aMarxistthief who has been released from prison and plans revenge.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mahfouz began to construct his novels more freely and often usedinterior monologues.InMiramar(1967) he employed a form of multipleFirst-person narratives.Four narrators, among them a Socialist and aNasseriteopportunist, represent different political views. In the center of the story is an attractive servant girl. InArabian Nights and Days(1979) and inThe Journey of Ibn Fatouma(1983) he drew on traditional Arabic narratives assubtexts.Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth(1985) deals with conflict between old and new religious truths.

Many of his novels were first published in serialized form, includingChildren of GebelawiandMidaq Alleywhich was also adapted into aMexican filmstarringSalma HayekcalledEl callejón de los milagros.

Political influence

Most of Mahfouz's writings deal mainly with politics, a fact he acknowledged: "In all my writings, you will find politics. You may find a story which ignores love or any other subject, but not politics; it is the very axis of our thinking".

He espousedEgyptian nationalismin many of his works, and expressed sympathies for the post-World-War-eraWafd Party.He was also attracted to socialist anddemocratic idealsearly in his youth. The influence of socialist ideals is strongly reflected in his first two novels,Al-KhaliliandNew Cairo,as well as many of his later works. Parallel to his sympathy for socialism and democracy was hisantipathytowardsIslamic extremism.

In his youth, Mahfouz had personally knownSayyid Qutbwhen Qutb was showing a greater interest inliterary criticismthan inIslamic fundamentalism;Qutb later became a significant influence on theMuslim Brotherhood.In the mid-1940s, Qutb was one of the first critics to recognize Mahfouz's talent, and by the 1960s, near the end of Qutb's life, Mahfouz even visited him in the hospital. But later, in the semi-autobiographical novelMirrors,Mahfouz drew a negative portrait of Qutb. He was disillusioned with the1952 revolutionand by Egypt's defeat in the 1967Six-Day War.He had supported the principles of the revolution, but became disenchanted, saying that the practices failed to live up to the original ideals.

Mahfouz's writing influenced a new generation of Egyptian lawyers, including Nabil Mounir and Reda Aslan.

Reception

Mahfouz's translated works received praise from American critics:

"The alleys, the houses, the palaces and mosques and the people who live among them are evoked as vividly in Mahfouz's work as the streets of London were conjured by Dickens." —Newsweek

"Throughout Naguib Mahfouz's fiction there is a pervasive sense of metaphor, of a literary artist who is using his fiction to speak directly and unequivocally to the condition of his country. His work is imbued with love for Egypt and its people, but it is also utterly honest and unsentimental." —Washington Post

"Mahfouz's work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. The Nobel Prize acknowledges the universal significance of [his] fiction." —Los Angeles Times

"Mr. Mahfouz embodied the essence of what makes the bruising, raucous, chaotic human anthill of Cairo possible." —The Economist

Nobel Prize for Literature

Mahfouz was awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, the only Arab writer to have won the award. Shortly after winning the prize Mahfouz was quoted as saying:

The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level. The Arab world also won the Nobel with me. I believe that international doors have opened, and that from now on, literate people will consider Arab literature also. We deserve that recognition.

The Swedish letter to Mahfouz praised his "rich and complex work":

[It] invites us to reconsider the fundamental things in life. Themes like the nature of time and love, society and norms, knowledge and faith recur in a variety of situations and are presented in thought-provoking, evocative, and clearly daring ways. And the poetic quality of your prose can be felt across the language barrier. In the prize citation you are credited with the forming of an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.

Because Mahfouz found traveling to Sweden difficult at his age, he did not attend the award ceremony.

Political involvement

Mahfouz did not shrink from controversy outside of his work. As a consequence of his support for Sadat'sCamp David peace treatywith Israel in 1978, his books were banned in many Arab countries until after he won the Nobel Prize. Like many Egyptian writers and intellectuals, Mahfouz was on an Islamic fundamentalist "death list".

He defended British-Indian writerSalman Rushdieafter AyatollahRuhollah Khomeinicondemned Rushdie to death in a 1989fatwa,but also criticized Rushdie's novelThe Satanic Versesas "insulting" to Islam. Mahfouz believed infreedom of expression,and, although he did not personally agree with Rushdie's work, he spoke out against thefatwacondemning him to death for it.

In 1989, after Ayatollah Khomeini'sfatwacalling for Rushdie and his publishers to be killed, Mahfouz called Khomeini a terrorist.Shortly after, Mahfouz joined 80 other intellectuals in declaring that "noblasphemyharms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer. "

Assassination attempt and aftermath

The publication ofThe Satanic Versesrevived the controversy surrounding Mahfouz's novelChildren of Gebelawi.Death threats against Mahfouz followed, including one from the "blind sheikh", Egyptian-bornOmar Abdel-Rahman.Mahfouz was given police protection, but in 1994 an extremist succeeded in attacking the 82-year-old novelist by stabbing him in the neck outside his Cairo home.

He survived, permanently affected by damage to nerves of his right upper limb. Sixteen people were put on a military trial, and two of them received death penalty and eventually hanged. After the incident, Mahfouz was unable to write for more than a few minutes a day and consequently produced fewer and fewer works. Subsequently, he lived under constant bodyguard protection. Finally, in the beginning of 2006, the novel was published in Egypt with a preface written by Ahmad Kamal Aboul-Magd. After the threats, Mahfouz stayed in Cairo with his lawyer, Nabil Mounir Habib. Mahfouz and Mounir would spend most of their time in Mounir's office; Mahfouz used Mounir's library as a reference for most of his books. Mahfouz stayed with Mounir until his death.

Personal life

Mahfouz remained a bachelor until age 43 because he believed that, with its numerous restrictions and limitations, marriage would hamper his literary future."I was afraid of marriage... especially when I saw how busy my brothers and sisters were with social events because of it. This one went to visit people, that one invited people. I had the impression that married life would take up all my time. I saw myself drowning in visits and parties. No freedom."

However, in 1954, he quietly married aCoptic Orthodoxwoman fromAlexandria,Atiyyatallah Ibrahim,with whom he had two daughters, Fatima and Umm Kalthum. The couple initially lived on a houseboat in theAgouzasection of Cairo on the west bank of theNile,then moved to an apartment along the river in the same area. Mahfouz avoided public exposure, especially inquiries into his private life, which might have become, as he put it, "a silly topic in journals and radio programs."

Mahfouz distinctly did not like to travel.Belgradewas one of the few cities to which he gladly went and he expressed great respect forSerbia.

Legacy

Mahfouz's legacy is considered a cornerstone of Modern Egyptian culture, his books are republished all the time,Cairo International Book Fair celebrated Mahfouz more than once.

His books keeps getting adapted into films and TV series in Egypt or internationally,such as Mexican adaptation ofMidaq Alleystarring Salma Hayek in 1995, and Egyptian TV series Afrah AlQoba,Bayn El Samaa Wa El Ardand Hadith Alsabah wa Almassaaamong others.

In 2019, Egyptian Ministry of Culture openedNaguib Mahfouz museumlocated in Old Cairo, nearWikala of al-Ghuri,Muzz Street andAzhar mosque,where most of Mahfouz novels take place, the museum have different collectibles from Mahfouz's life such as his hat, desk, photographs and his awards including Nobel Medal.

In 2021, Egyptian actorAhmed Helmyannounced that he's working on a biographical TV series about Mahfouz's life, Starring Helmy as Mahfouz and written by Abdelreheem Kamal.

Works

• A translation into Arabic of James Baikie'sAncient Egypt(1932) مصر القديمة
• Whisper of Madness(1938) همس الجنون
• Mockery of the Fates(1939) عبث الأقدار. His first full-length novel, translated title in EnglishKhufu's Wisdom.
• Rhadopis of Nubia(1943) رادوبيس
• The Struggle of Thebes(1944) كفاح طيبة
• Cairo Modern(1945) القاهرة الجديدة
• Khan al-Khalili(1945) خان الخليلي
• Midaq Alley(1947) زقاق المدق
• The Mirage(1948) السراب
• The Beginning and the End(1949) بداية ونهاية
• Palace Walk(1956) بين القصرين (Cairo Trilogy,Part 1)
• Palace of Desire(1957) قصر الشوق (Cairo Trilogy,Part 2)
• Sugar Street(1957) السكرية (Cairo Trilogy,Part 3)
• Children of Gebelawi(1959) أولاد حارتنا
• The Thief and the Dogs(1961) اللص والكلاب
• Autumn Quail(1962) السمان والخريف
• God's World(1962) دنيا الله
• Zaabalawi(1961) زعبلاوي
• The Search(1964) الطريق
• The Beggar(1965) الشحاذ
• Adrift on the Nile(1966) ثرثرة فوق النيل
• Miramar(1967) ميرامار
• The Pub of the Black Cat(1969) خمارة القط الأسود
• A Story Without a Beginning or an Ending(1971) حكاية بلا بداية ولا نهاية
• The Honeymoon(1971) شهر العسل
• Mirrors(1972) المرايا
• Love in the Rain(1973) الحب تحت المطر
• The Crime(1973) الجريمة
• Karnak Café(1974) الكرنك
• Stories from Our Neighbourhood(حكايات حارتنا (1975
• Respected Sir(1975) حضرة المحترم
• The Harafish(1977) ملحمة الحرافيش
• Love above the Pyramid Plateau(1979) الحب فوق هضبة الهرم
• The Devil Preaches(1979) الشيطان يعظ
• Arabian Nights and Days(1979) ليالي ألف ليلة
• Love and the Veil(1980) عصر الحب
• Wedding Song (novel)(1981) (also known as Joys of the Dome) أفراح القبة
• I Saw, in a Dream(1982), including the short story "Qismati and Nasibi"(My Fate and My Destiny)
• One Hour Remains(1982; also published in translation asThe Final Hour) الباقي من الزمن ساعة
• The Journey of Ibn Fattouma(1983) رحلة ابن فطومة
• Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth(1985) العائش فى الحقيقة
• The Day the Leader was Killed(1985) يوم مقتل الزعيم
• The Hunger(Al-Go'a) (1986) الجوع
• Please and Your Kindness(1986) من فضلك وإحسانك
• Morning and Evening Talk(1987) حديث الصباح والمساء
• The False Dawn(1988) الفجر الكاذب
• The Coffeehouse(1988)
• Echoes of an Autobiography(1994) أصداء السيرة الذاتية
• Echoes of Forgetnessصدى النسيان (1999)
• Dreams of the Rehabilitation Period(2004) أحلام فترة النقاهة
• —— (2005), "The Situation of the Novel",World Literature Today,79(2), translated by Sultan, Sabbar S.:46–47,doi:10.2307/40158674,JSTOR40158674
• The Seventh Heaven(2005)
• Dreams of Departure(2007; posthumous translation)
• Before the Throne(2009; posthumous translation) أمام العرش
• In the Time of Love(2010; posthumous translation)
• Heart of the Night(2011; posthumous translation), also adapted ina 1989 film.
• The Quarter(short stories, 2019; posthumous translation)

Honours

Ribbon bar	Country	Honour
	Egypt	Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Nile
	Egypt	Grand Cordon of theOrder of the Arab Republic of Egypt
	Egypt	Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit (Egypt)
	Chile	First Class of theOrder of Educational and Cultural Merit Gabriela Mistral
	France	Commandeur ofOrdre des Arts et des Lettres
	Italy	Grand officier ofOrder of Merit of the Italian Republic
	Tunisia	Grand Cordon of theNational Order of Merit of Tunisia

Bibliography

• Somekh, Sasson(1973).The Changing Rhythm: A Study of Najib Mahfuz's Novels.Leiden: Brill.

See also

• List of Egyptian authors
• List of African writers
• The Beginning and the End

External links

• Naguib Mahfouz on his English publisher's website
• Naguib Mahfouz – The Son of Two Civilizationsat Nobel Prize website
• Naguib Mahfouzon Nobelprize.org
• Petri Liukkonen."Naguib Mahfouz".Books and Writers.
• BBC Obituary
• The 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Naguib Mahfouzat Qantara.de
• Mahfouz Centennial Celebrations 2011at The American University in Cairo Press