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Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition

Naguib Mahfouz

by Richard D. McGhee, Mabel Khawaja

Other literary forms

Naguib Mahfouz (mahkh-FEWS) is known primarily for his long fiction, although he wrote many short stories and some one-act plays, five of which he published with collections of his short stories in Taḥta al-miẓalla (1969). His first publication was a translation into Arabic from English, Miṣr al-Qadīmah (1931), of James Baikie’s Ancient Egypt (1912). Mahfouz also published numerous pieces of popular journalism and his memoirs, including Asda’ al-sirah al-dhatiyah in 1995 (Echoes of an Autobiography, 1997).

Naguib Mahfouz.

ph_0111207199-Mahfouz.jpg

(©The Nobel Foundation)

Achievements

In 1988, Naguib Mahfouz became the first Arab author to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature; he was cited by the Swedish Academy for works that are richly realistic. In his Nobel speech, he described himself as the son of two civilizations: Pharaonic and Islamic. He expressed his passion to transcend traditional barriers for a universal vision informed by a heightened sense of responsibility toward humanity. In 1989, Mahfouz received the Presidential Medal from the American University in Cairo. He was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1992, and he was presented with an honorary doctorate by the American University in Cairo in 1995, which established the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature as an annual award for outstanding contributions to Arabic writing.

Mahfouz advanced the art of long fiction in Arabic through major works that are varied in their experimental approaches tonarrative, and he captured the attention of many for his courageous defense of freedom from religious persecution. He brought to Arabic writing a new dedication to artistic integrity in a form that is recent and rare.

Biography

Naguib Mahfouz was the youngest of seven children born to his parents in the old Gamaliya quarter of Cairo, Egypt. When he was nine years old, his family moved to a suburban district called Abbasiya, where he had his first experience with love and where he began to write in imitation of Arabic fiction writers. The 1919 Revolution made a deep impression on the youth. The Revolution of 1952, which brought Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser to power and ended the Egyptian monarchy, proved disillusioning to Mahfouz.

He studied philosophy at Fuad I (now Cairo) University from 1930 to 1934, concentrating on the French philosopher Henri Bergson. After graduating in 1934, he found employment as a civil servant, which he continued until his retirement in 1971. He worked in several different locations, from Cairo University to the Ministry of Religious Endowments, where he was working when, in 1939, he published his first novel, Khufu’s Wisdom, a historical romance based on ancient Egyptian history. He returned to his old neighborhood in 1945, where he worked in the Ghuri library and read the works of Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, Eugene O’Neill, Gustave Flaubert, and Marcel Proust. In 1950 he began work for the Ministry of National Guidance, held several positions, and at last became adviser to the minister of culture.

Mahfouz did not marry until 1954, when he was forty-three. Shortly after his marriage, he published the first volume of The Trilogy, Palace Walk, in 1956. In 1959, his novel Children of the Alley was serialized in the national newspaper Al-Ahram. It garnered severe criticism from religious fundamentalists. Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman called for the death of the author. Mahfouz was stabbed in the neck outside his house by an extremist on October 14, 1994, when he was eighty-two years old. The wound disrupted Mahfouz’s writing career, but the following year he published his memoir Echoes of an Autobiography, causing yet another uproar in Egypt because of his criticism of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

On December 10, 1997, Mahfouz represented the Egyptian government at a ceremony on the West Bank of the Nile, where he expressed the nation’s sorrow and sympathy for the victims of the Luxor terrorist attack on tourists shortly before. In 1999, after prolonged and intensive physiotherapy, Mahfouz resumed writing; he died in Cairo on August 30, 2006.

Analysis

After the end of World War II, Naguib Mahfouz published novels that represented life as he knew it when he was growing up, beginning with Khān al-Khalīli in 1945. Details of the neighborhood where he was born, Gamaliya, provided him with setting and symbols. Midaq Alley focuses on people struggling to survive amid the rapidly changing conditions of old Cairo. Mahfouz’s disillusionment with President Nasser is reflected in many of the novels published after 1961, beginning with The Thief and the Dogs. These novels express the spiritual need and political discontent that had been suppressed in his previous works. Autumn Quail and The Search reflect the way Mahfouz expresses in his titles the symbolic images that crystallize the themes of these novels. Miramar presents an episode of romantic violence in a boardinghouse in Alexandria, Egypt, told by four boarders from their different points of view. Mahfouz would return to this narrative device in the later novel Wedding Song, with self-reflective characters who observe themselves in a drama with the same title as the novel.

Mahfouz’s art varied in several different novels after Respected Sir in 1975, an ironic tale of a civil servant who sacrifices everything for career advancement. This includes the allegorical and anecdotal techniques of Children of the Alley, the epic adventures of The Harafish, and the romantic fantasies of Arabian Nights and Days. The first and third of these represent radical innovations by Mahfouz, in which he rewrites historical tales of religion and fable. The Harafish, on the other hand, is an extended version of the techniques used in Children of the Alley, with more irony and surface realism, and also with a conclusion that promises a return to original goodness.

While the romantic settings of ancient Egypt capture the majestic and the exotic in Mahfouz’s fiction, his realistic scenes of twentieth century Cairo bring to life poor neighborhoods with complex entanglements amid sectarian and ideological differences, such as the English presence in Egypt, Shiahs, Sunnis, Islamic extremists, and Sufis. Mahfouz blends the Western art of fiction with the Islamic literary tradition of Sufism, which connects spirituality with folk culture. Even though the political environment in which he lived subjected Mahfouz to personal suffering and injustice, his artistic vision was not restrained by national politics. His vision of the human condition is guided by mystical dimensions that enrich his fiction with figurative language, infusing universal appeal. His use of symbols and allegorical devices may have served as a mask for his political criticism, but only a reductive approach would disregard the full scope of his fiction. It draws on both the Western tradition and the Sufi conventions of universal mystical appeal that connect the language of the heart and mind through feeling and meaning. Mahfouz also uses Sufism as a historical link with the grandeur of the Islamic past, beyond Arab-speaking countries, to integrate the magical or the miraculous, opening up his narratives to ambivalent interpretations. His recurrent references to Sufi sheikhs engaged in dhikr, or meditation, serve as a reminder of eternal hope and the spiritual path of love that unites the Creator and his creation.

The Trilogy

Mahfouz’s major accomplishment is made up of three volumes: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street. Palace Walk is a street in Cairo on which Ahmad, a storekeeper, and his family live at the end of World War I. The head of the family is al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, a religiously conservative middle-class merchant who finds pleasure in drinking with his friends and carousing with prostitutes. The lustful Yasin is his son by his first wife. Amina is Ahmad’s devoted second wife and mother of four children. Fahmy is her elder son, a law student who becomes increasingly involved in the 1919 Revolution. Kamal is her younger son, who will grow to maturity over the course of the three novels, from a simple, innocent boy to a troubled, skeptical man. Khadija is the ugly elder daughter with a big heart. The beautiful younger sister, Aisha, marries first and goes to live on Sugar Street with her new family. Fahmy joins in a victory celebration at the end of Palace Walk and is killed by British soldiers.

Palace of Desire begins in 1924. The members of the family are portrayed after Fahmy’s martyrdom. Yasin chases woman after woman, never satisfying his lust. Ahmad, relaxing his tyranny over his family, has a desperate affair with a prostitute, who marries Yasin. Amina becomes more outspoken. Kamal, in teachers’ college, is disillusioned with love and loses his religious beliefs as he learns more science. At the end of this volume, in 1927, several characters are ill, and several die, as the hero of the revolution, Sa’d Zaghlul, also dies.

It is 1935 at the opening of Sugar Street, and the family is suffering from economic depression amid worries about war. At the end of the novel, in 1945, Ahmad is dead, Amina is dying, two grandsons are in a prison camp, and a granddaughter is about to have a child. Devastated by the deaths of her husband and children, Aisha is driven to madness and mysticism. Khadija is outraged when her sons—Abd al-Muni’m, a member of the Muslim Brethren, and Ahmad Ibrahim Shawkat, a communist—are arrested and imprisoned. Kamal, now an English teacher, believes life is a great cheat. Yasin is alarmed by signs of aging; he begins to reconstruct his memory, placing himself in a heroic light, thus casting The Trilogy in a comic attitude of ironic absurdity.

Children of the Alley

Children of the Alley centers on an Egyptian family confronted with trials and tribulations that suggest parallels with the patriarchs and religious leaders of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While the book has earned praise for its universal appeal, it has been condemned by Islamic extremists whose interpretation reduces the narrative to a disrespectful presentation of holy personages. It is a bold narrative in which the God-like Gabalawi chooses his youngest son, Adham, to manage his property. Adham, pressed by his satanic brother, violates his father’s trust and is driven into a hostile world, where he is forced to peddle potatoes. After Adham’s son Qadri murders his brother Humam, Adham is forgiven in a dream by Gabalawi. In the second tale, Gabal (a Moses-like figure) kills a henchman of Overseer, his foster father, and flees into the desert, where a snake charmer gives Gabal his daughter in marriage. Gabal returns home, and Gabalawi commands Gabal to oppose injustice. Gabal charms snakes away and becomes a lawgiver.

The Jesus-like Rifaa disappears into the desert to avoid marriage and returns, after a conversation with Gabalawi, preaching mercy. He protects a prostitute from a mob and then marries her. He acquires a reputation as a healer, but he is clubbed to death by gangsters and buried in the desert. There are rumors of his resurrection. The hero of the fourth tale is Qassem, who resembles the Prophet Muḥammad. He is visited by a servant of Gabalawi, who tells Qassem to bring justice to his people. He organizes athletic clubs to attract young men from the outcast tribe of Desert Rats, who train for combat; then he leads his men to overcome Overseer and establish peace. Arafa, a magician-scientist, and his brother Hanash arrive in the alley to avenge the death of their mother. Arafa steals into the house of Gabalawi and accidentally kills a servant, causing Gabalawi to die of shock. Arafa searches for magic to bring Gabalawi back to life. Arafa is summoned by Overseer, who forces him to share a bottle of explosive powder that Arafa has invented, but Arafa is kidnapped and buried alive in the desert, while his brother tries to protect the formula for the magic powder.

The Thief and the Dogs

The Thief and the Dogs alternates between interior monologues of the obsessed thief, Said Mahran, and objective descriptions of events in the days of his life after he is released from prison. Seeking revenge against his former friend and his former wife, he goes to the Sufi sheikh Ali al-Junaydi, who gives him aid and religious advice. Then Said searches for an old political comrade, journalist Rauf Ilwan, who tells Said to find a job. Said attempts to rob Rauf’s home, but he is caught and thrown into the night. He obtains a gun and meets Nur, a prostitute and old friend, who takes him into her home. Said kills a stranger whom he mistakes for the husband of his ex-wife. He tries to kill Rauf, but again he kills the wrong man. The full fury of the police and public are launched, through Rauf’s newspaper, to find and punish Said. He flees into a cemetery, and there, among the tombs, he is pursued by men and dogs; he opens fire and is cut down in a hail of bullets, raving at the dogs who have found him at last.

This novel incorporates elements of existentialism and psychological realism to show how social rejection—by his little daughter and then by his friend Rauf—leads to Said Mahran’s alienation and inability to resist irresponsible actions. His mistaken killings are followed by a final mistake when he leaves the Sufi sheikh’s sanctuary to retrieve his uniform, which provides a clue to the dogs who find him hiding in the cemetery. Said’s final moment is open to differing interpretations: Are individuals inevitably defeated by sociopolitical forces, or do they rise in stature through the courageous acceptance of destiny? Surrounded by the police, Said is no longer afraid; he comes out “raving at the dogs.” The dogs represent sociopolitical forces that are lacking in human understanding.

Arabian Nights and Days

Arabian Nights and Days is a retelling of the famous fifteenth century Arabic stories The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, also known as The Thousand and One Nights. Sultan Shahriyar announces he will no longer kill virgins. Gamasa al-Bulti, the chief of police, captures a genie, Singam, while fishing, then watches himself being beheaded because the genie has put a double in his place. The real Gamasa has assumed the form of Abdullah the porter. He begins a holy war, murdering people in the government. Abdullah confesses his murders, is ordered to a lunatic asylum, and disappears. Sakhrabout and Zarmabaha, drunken genies, scheme against people for fun. Foolish people are saved by Abdullah the madman, and the sultan becomes more righteous as he stalks the night streets to learn truth.

Aladdin is falsely arrested, then executed unjustly. The sultan is tricked, through a mock trial, into recognizing this injustice. Genies give a magic cap of invisibility to Fadil Sanaan, who can do anything except what his conscience dictates, yet he must not commit evil. He promptly violates these conditions, enjoying his powers and harassing people throughout the city, before he returns the cap, confesses his sins, and boldly meets his death. After the cobbler, Marouf, learns the limits of powers from genies, the sultan appoints him governor, and Marouf appoints the madman as police chief. Sindbad the Sailor teaches the sultan moral lessons, and in the final tale the sultan abandons his throne and family and finds a great rock, which opens to admit him to a beautiful eternal bride. However, he cannot resist opening a door that says, “Everything is clear except for this door.” The door takes him back outside the rock, and he cannot return. In despair, he hears Abdullah saying there is no path to truth, and so it cannot be attained, but it cannot be escaped. The innovative twist of the title of this work implies a blend of magical tales from the past and spiritual parables that emphasize the theme of an individual’s quest for truth that cannot be attained, either through “canonic laws” or through human perceptions.

Bibliography

1 

Beard, Michael, and Adnan Haydar, eds. Naguib Mahfouz: From Regional Fame to Global Recognition. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1993. Collection of essays is derived from a symposium held in recognition of Mahfouz’s receipt of the Nobel Prize. Topics addressed include images of women in Mahfouz’s fiction and critical reactions to his works.

2 

Coetzee, J. M. “Fabulous Fabulist.” The New York Review of Books 41 (September 22, 1994): 30-33. Argues that it was Mahfouz’s example that spurred interest in the novel in Arabic in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Briefly discusses Mahfouz’s fiction, describing the world of Cairo as he depicts it.

3 

El-Enany, Rasheed. Naguib Mahfouz: The Pursuit of Meaning. New York: Routledge, 1993. Groups Mahfouz’s novels according to their treatment of history, idealism, and episodic structural designs, with a detailed analysis of Respected Sir.

4 

Gordon, Haim. Naguib Mahfouz’s Egypt: Existential Themes in His Writings. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990. Examines the impressionistic view of Egyptian society in the writings of Mahfouz.

5 

Kilpatrick, Hilary. The Modern Egyptian Novel: A Study in Social Criticism. London: Ithaca Press, 1974. Examines Mahfouz’s novels in the context of contemporary Egyptian fiction.

6 

Le Gassick, Trevor, ed. Critical Perspectives on Naguib Mahfouz. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 1991. Collection of essays on Mahfouz’s work, four of which are in translation from Arabic, address a wide range of topics, including Mahfouz’s contributions to the short story, the novel, and the Egyptian cinema. Complemented by bibliographies of materials in English.

7 

Milson, Menahem. Najib Mahfuz: The Novelist-Philosopher of Cairo. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Good introductory work for the beginning student of Mahfouz, offering insight into the author’s works and life.

8 

Moussa-Mahmoud, Fatma. “Depth of Vision: The Fiction of Naguib Mahfouz.” Third World Quarterly 11 (April, 1989): 154-166. Presents a first-rate, comprehensive study of Mahfouz’s life and work.

9 

Stock, Raymond. “Naguib Mahfouz Dreams—and Departs.” Southwest Review 92, no. 2 (2007): 172-179. Traces how Mahfouz’s dreams blend realism and surrealism as a storytelling technique.

10 

Weaver, Mary Anne. “The Novelist and the Sheikh.” The New Yorker, January 30, 1995. Discusses how Mahfouz’s characters debate issues of justice and injustice, expectation and disillusionment, and belief in God. Includes biographical information about the author.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
McGhee, Richard D., and Mabel Khawaja. "Naguib Mahfouz." Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition, edited by Carl Rollyson, Salem Press, 2010. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=CSLF_14120140000275.
APA 7th
McGhee, R. D., & Khawaja, M. (2010). Naguib Mahfouz. In C. Rollyson (Ed.), Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
McGhee, Richard D. and Khawaja, Mabel. "Naguib Mahfouz." Edited by Carl Rollyson. Critical Survey of Long Fiction, Fourth Edition. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2010. Accessed September 19, 2026. online.salempress.com.