In 1971, Naguib Mahfouz—who would become one of the greatest literary figures in the Arab world—was just beginning a new job on the editorial staff of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. Elsewhere in Cairo, Anwar el-Sadat was just beginning his hugely transformative Egyptian presidency, which would span eleven years. This volume of Mahfouz’s essays and articles written between 1974 and 1981 serves as a portrait of a volatile period in Egypt’s history which began with the ‘Corrective Revolution’ and the Yom Kippur War with Israel, and ended with Sadat’s assassination by Islamic extremists.
These essays were all published in the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper, and the tension between an author who rails against censorship, yet is bound within its confines, runs through the collection. Nonetheless, Mahfouz’s own thoughts are unmistakably present: we gain his insight into diverse political topics, such as socio-economic class, democracy and dictatorship, Islam and extremism, topics which remain highly pertinent across the world today.
A vital accompaniment to his literature, these collected essays are contemporaneous with Mahfouz’s famed fictional works such as Karnak Café, The Harafish and Arabian Nights and Days.