Naguib
Mahfouz Is No More
By Jeff Black in
Cairo
31 August 2006
The
Independent
Egypt
paid tribute yesterday to Naguib Mahfouz, father figure of Arabic literature,
who died in Cairo aged 94.
Mahfouz, rose to prominence
with his portrayals of Egypt under British occupation and the subsequent
autocratic rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. His gently sardonic
style of writing influenced writers across the Arab world.
The winner of the 1988 Nobel
Prize for Literature had been ill since sustaining a head injury during
a fall in July. He had been suffering from a bleeding ulcer, kidney
problems and cardiac failure. Doctors were unable to revive him after
he suffered a heart attack early on Wednesday morning.
Mahfouz's 1945 book "New
Cairo" combined social criticism and psychological insight to portray
living characters in the deeply Islamic slums of Cairo. The realistic
style of New Cairo is credited with starting a new school of Arab writing.
Another four realistic works followed.
Mahfouz's writing on taboo
topics often rankled Islamic conservatives in Egypt and led to an assassination
attempt 12 years ago when he portrayed God in one of his novels. The
knife attack damaged a nerve and seriously impaired his ability to use
his writing hand. Two of his attackers were subsequently hanged.
"They are trying to
extinguish the light of reason and thought. Beware, " Mahfouz said
after the attack.
Mafouz was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1988 for works which "formed an Arabian narrative art
that applies to all mankind".
"He came to this world
only to write," Egyptian writer Youssef al-Quaid told Egyptian
television. "He was the most famous writer in Egypt... He had an
incredible ability to create and create all his life."
Mahfouz's support of Egypt's
1979 peace treaty with Israel brought him the wrath of many Arab countries,
who banned his novels. But many of his works have been made into Arabic
films and his books have been widely sold across the Arab world.
His novels, known across
the Arab world and translated into several foreign languages, detailed
the minutiae of Egyptian life while making subtle - but often controversial
- political and philosophical statements. The combination of the political
and the personal, said friend and cultural writer Gamal al-Ghitani,
made Mahfouz " the conscience of Egypt" .
The oeuvre spans the history
of the modern Egyptian state. With his first novel published in 1939,
Mahfouz's prolific output stretched to more than 30 novels, over 350
short stories, and five short plays. Many of his works reached a mass
audience by being converted for cinema. Among his best-known works are
The Cairo Trilogy, and Children of the Alley, the latter of which aroused
the opprobrium of Egypt's conservative religious establishment, and
was banned.
The Cairo Trilogy, which
was published in serial form beginning in 1956 - four years after the
Egyptian revolution - won critical acclaim across the Arab world for
its unpretentious depictions of urban life, and wound meditations on
family and authority for its audience into the fabric of an ancient
and familiar city. Children of the Alley, originally published as a
serial in 1959 in the Egyptian newspaper-of-record Al Ahram, was met
with severe criticism for its supposed allegorical representations of
God, Jesus, and Mohammed - in transgression of strict Islamic rules.
The stigma, in some eyes,
of having made such a transgression was many years later to nearly kill
Mahfouz. In 1994, six years after receiving the Nobel prize and extolling
publicly in his address to the Swedish Academy Islam's " value
for the human spirit in its demand for knowledge" , he was attacked
near his home by religious extremists motivated by an alleged fatwa
against his work. The then-83 year old was seriously wounded in the
neck, and suffered severely damaged nerves to his right (writing) hand.
The 1994 attack was the low-point
of Naguib Mahfouz's difficult relationship with some elements of the
religiously conservative society in which he lived and worked. His friends
avow his liberal principles however, and insist that he had no particular
axe to grind with those that believed in the prominent role of Islam
in politics. Gamal al-Ghitani told The Independent that, overall"
Naguib believed in democracy - even for Islamists. In 1992, when the
Algerian army nullified the victory of the Islamists in the elections
there, he was angry. He said " the result is the will of the people".
Earlier this year, Naguib played what has come to be seen as an ironic
final twist in his relationship with the forces of conservative Islam
- he asked permission for the belated publication of Children of The
Alley.
Since the debilitating knife
attack in 94, Mahfouz's health and daily habits became something of
a conversation point amongst intellectual circles in Cairo. The ageing
Mahfouz, who in latter years was effectively blind, and deaf in one
ear, would hold court each Friday in a hotel or bar with a group of
friends and admirers.
Egyptian state media, Arab
channels and friends have been lining up to pay tribute to the writer.
Channel One has been reporting rumours that President Hosni Mubarak
will attend his funeral, which will be held on Thursday. National television
has also rescheduled programmes for the coming week, intending to show
all of the 15 films made so far from his novels. Cultural commentators
have been underlining the importance of Mahfouz's work, and what will
become his enduring legacy.
Mahfouz's friend, translator
and official biographer Raymond Stock said that, " in general,
there is a great deal of sadness. His death is symbolic of the end of
an era... the end of a great generation of litterateurs." Commenting
on his legacy, Mr Stock went on to say that " He has left an incredibly
rich and varied legacy. He gave the everyday flavours of life, but his
great genius was that he could transcend the local and make it universal."
Egypt paid tribute yesterday
to Naguib Mahfouz, father figure of Arabic literature, who died in Cairo
aged 94.
Mahfouz, rose to prominence
with his portrayals of Egypt under British occupation and the subsequent
autocratic rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. His gently sardonic
style of writing influenced writers across the Arab world.
The winner of the 1988 Nobel
Prize for Literature had been ill since sustaining a head injury during
a fall in July. He had been suffering from a bleeding ulcer, kidney
problems and cardiac failure. Doctors were unable to revive him after
he suffered a heart attack early on Wednesday morning.
Mahfouz's 1945 book "New
Cairo" combined social criticism and psychological insight to portray
living characters in the deeply Islamic slums of Cairo. The realistic
style of New Cairo is credited with starting a new school of Arab writing.
Another four realistic works followed.
Mahfouz's writing on taboo
topics often rankled Islamic conservatives in Egypt and led to an assassination
attempt 12 years ago when he portrayed God in one of his novels. The
knife attack damaged a nerve and seriously impaired his ability to use
his writing hand. Two of his attackers were subsequently hanged.
"They are trying to
extinguish the light of reason and thought. Beware, " Mahfouz said
after the attack.
Mafouz was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1988 for works which "formed an Arabian narrative art
that applies to all mankind".
"He came to this world
only to write," Egyptian writer Youssef al-Quaid told Egyptian
television. "He was the most famous writer in Egypt... He had an
incredible ability to create and create all his life."
Mahfouz's support of Egypt's
1979 peace treaty with Israel brought him the wrath of many Arab countries,
who banned his novels. But many of his works have been made into Arabic
films and his books have been widely sold across the Arab world.
His novels, known across
the Arab world and translated into several foreign languages, detailed
the minutiae of Egyptian life while making subtle - but often controversial
- political and philosophical statements. The combination of the political
and the personal, said friend and cultural writer Gamal al-Ghitani,
made Mahfouz " the conscience of Egypt" .
The oeuvre spans the history
of the modern Egyptian state. With his first novel published in 1939,
Mahfouz's prolific output stretched to more than 30 novels, over 350
short stories, and five short plays. Many of his works reached a mass
audience by being converted for cinema. Among his best-known works are
The Cairo Trilogy, and Children of the Alley, the latter of which aroused
the opprobrium of Egypt's conservative religious establishment, and
was banned.
The Cairo Trilogy, which
was published in serial form beginning in 1956 - four years after the
Egyptian revolution - won critical acclaim across the Arab world for
its unpretentious depictions of urban life, and wound meditations on
family and authority for its audience into the fabric of an ancient
and familiar city. Children of the Alley, originally published as a
serial in 1959 in the Egyptian newspaper-of-record Al Ahram, was met
with severe criticism for its supposed allegorical representations of
God, Jesus, and Mohammed - in transgression of strict Islamic rules.
The stigma, in some eyes, of having made such a transgression was many
years later to nearly kill Mahfouz. In 1994, six years after receiving
the Nobel prize and extolling publicly in his address to the Swedish
Academy Islam's " value for the human spirit in its demand for
knowledge" , he was attacked near his home by religious extremists
motivated by an alleged fatwa against his work. The then-83 year old
was seriously wounded in the neck, and suffered severely damaged nerves
to his right (writing) hand.
The 1994 attack was the low-point
of Naguib Mahfouz's difficult relationship with some elements of the
religiously conservative society in which he lived and worked. His friends
avow his liberal principles however, and insist that he had no particular
axe to grind with those that believed in the prominent role of Islam
in politics. Gamal al-Ghitani told The Independent that, overall"
Naguib believed in democracy - even for Islamists. In 1992, when the
Algerian army nullified the victory of the Islamists in the elections
there, he was angry. He said " the result is the will of the people".
Earlier this year, Naguib played what has come to be seen as an ironic
final twist in his relationship with the forces of conservative Islam
- he asked permission for the belated publication of Children of The
Alley.
Since the debilitating knife
attack in 94, Mahfouz's health and daily habits became something of
a conversation point amongst intellectual circles in Cairo. The ageing
Mahfouz, who in latter years was effectively blind, and deaf in one
ear, would hold court each Friday in a hotel or bar with a group of
friends and admirers.
Egyptian state media, Arab
channels and friends have been lining up to pay tribute to the writer.
Channel One has been reporting rumours that President Hosni Mubarak
will attend his funeral, which will be held on Thursday. National television
has also rescheduled programmes for the coming week, intending to show
all of the 15 films made so far from his novels. Cultural commentators
have been underlining the importance of Mahfouz's work, and what will
become his enduring legacy.
Mahfouz's friend, translator
and official biographer Raymond Stock said that, " in general,
there is a great deal of sadness. His death is symbolic of the end of
an era... the end of a great generation of litterateurs." Commenting
on his legacy, Mr Stock went on to say that " He has left an incredibly
rich and varied legacy. He gave the everyday flavours of life, but his
great genius was that he could transcend the local and make it universal."
© 2006 Independent News
and Media Limited