The most striking characteristic of his faith as a whole was its
fertile love. Using it, he set about performing all his duties to
like prayer, fasting, or almsgiving, with love, ease, and
not to mention a clear conscience, a heart abounding in love for
pie, and a soul that was generous in its gallantry and help
These qualities made him a dear friend. People vied to enjoy
pleasures of his friendship.
With the same ardent, overflowing vitality, he opened his
to the joys and pleasures of life. He delighted in fancy food. He enchanted by vintage wine. He was crazy about a pretty (ace.
pursued each of these pleasures with gaiety, joy, and passion.
conscience was not weighed down by guilty feelings or anxious scru.
pies. He was exercising a right granted him by life, as though
was no conflict between the duty life gave his heart
entrusted to his conscience. At no time in his life had he felt
from God or a target for His vengeance. He communed
with Him. Was he two separate people combined into one
ality? Was his faith in the divine magnanimity so strong
not believe these pleasures really had been forbidden? Even
were forbidden, should they not be excused so long as no
harmed? Most probably what happened was that he embraced
with his heart and emotions without resorting to thought or
tion. He found within himself strong instincts, some directed
God and tamed through worship and others set for
quenched in play. The integration of all these within him was
and carefree. His soul was not disturbed by any need to
them. He was not forced to justify them in his thoughts,
the pressure of criticism like that with which Shaykh Mutawalli
al-Samad confronted him. Under such circumstances, he found him"
self more distressed by thinking than by the accusation itself, not because he shrugged off being accused before God, but because he
pALACE WALK
could not believe that he was actually being accused or that God
:ould truly be angry at him for having a little fun that harmed no
one. Thought, however, was a burden and revealed how trivial his
knowledge of his religion was. For this reason, he frowned when the
other man challengingly asked him whether his obedience was "by
word or deed."
He responded in a tone that did not hide his distress, "By word
and deed both. By prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. By remembering
God whether 1 am standing or sitting. Why is it wrong for me,
after that, to refresh myself with a little fun, harming no one, or
for me to overlook one rule? Is nothing forbidden save these two
things."
The shaykh raised his eyebrows and closed his eyes to indicate
that he did not agree. Then he muttered, "What a perverse defense!"
The
proprietor suddenly went from anxiety to gaiety, as was his
wont, and said expansively, "God is clement and merciful, Shaykh
Abd al-Samad. I don't picture Him, may He be high and exalted,
being in any way spiteful or sullen. Even His vengeance is mercy in
disguise. I offer Him love, obedience, reverence, and a good deed is
worth ten,.."
"In the calculus of good deeds, you have the most to gain."
The proprietor motioned to Jamil al-Hamzawi to bring the
shaykh's present. He said happily, "God's all we need, along with
the favors of His deputy."
The proprietor's assistant brought him the parcel, which he took
and presented to the shaykh. "To your health," he said with a laugh.
The shaykh accepted it and said, "May God provide for you generously
and forgive you."
The proprietor mumbled, "Amen." Then, smiling, he asked him,
"Weren't you well off once, master?"
The shaykh laughed and replied, "May God go easy on you.
You're a generous man with a good heart. I take this occasion to
caution you against excessive generosity, for it is not compatible with
making a living as a merchant."
The proprietor asked in astonishment, "Are you tempting me to
withdraw the gift?"
The man rose and replied, "The gift to me is not excessive. Begin
some.here else, you son of Abd al-Jawad. Peace to you and God's
mercy."
Naguib Mahfou
The shaykh left the store in a hurry and disappeared from
The proprietor kept on thinking. He was mulling over the di
that had flared up between him and the shaykh. Then he sprea
hands out in entreaty. He mumbled, God, forgive me both rnyi
gone and recent sins. God, You are clement and merciful." "
Kamal left the Khalil Agha School in the afternoon, bobbing along in
the swelling current of pupils who blocked off the road with their
flow. They began to scatter, some along al-Darraa, some on New
Street, others on al-Husayn. Meanwhile bands of them encircled the
roving vendors stationed to catch them at the ends of the streets that
branched out from the school. Their baskets contained melon seeds,
peanuts, down palm fruit, and sweets. At this hour, the street also
witnessed fights, which broke out here and there between pupils
forced to keep their disagreements quiet during the day to avoid
school punishment.
Kamai had only rarely been embroiled in a fight, perhaps not more
than twice during the two years he had been at the school. He had
avoided fights, not from a lack of disputes, which actually were plentiful,
nor because he disliked fighting. Being forced to renounce fighting
caused him profound regret, but the overwhelming majority of
the other pupils were much older, making him and a few of his companions
aliens in the school. They stumbled along in their short pants
surrounded by pupils over fifteen, many close to twenty. They
plowed through the younger boys pompously and haughtily, sporting
their mustaches. One of them would stop him in the school courtyard
for no reason and snatch the book from his hand to toss far away
like a ball. Another would take a piece of candy from him and pop it
in his own mouth, without so much as asking, while carrying on a
conversation with someone else.
Kamal's desire to fight did not desert him, but he suppressed it out
of fear of the consequences. He responded only when one of his
young companions provoked him. He found that attacking them
vented his stifled rebellious feelings. It was a way to regain confidence
in himself and his strength. Neither fighting nor being forced
to refrain was the worst insult the aggressors could inflict. There
were the curses and bad language that reached his ears, whether or
not intended for him. He understood the meaning of some of the
expressions and was cautious with them. Others he did not know and
repeated innocently at home, thus stirring up a storm of outrage and
Naguib)kIahfou
indignation. This led to a complaint to the school disciplinarian,
was a friend of his father's.
It was nothing but bad luck which decreed that his
one of his two fights was from a family of known toughs
al-Darrasa. On the afternoon following the battle, Kamal found
ing for him at the door of the school a gang of youths armed
sticks, forming a ring of terrifying evil. When his adversary
to point him out, Kamal grasped the danger lying in wait for
He fled back to the school and appealed to the disciplinary officer
help. The man tried in vain to dissuade the gang from its
They spoke so rudely to him that he was forced to summon a
liceman to escort the boy home. The disciplinarian paid a call
Kamal's father at his shop and told him of the danger menacing
son. He advised him to attempt to resolve the matter prudently
diplomatically. The father had recourse to some merchants he
in al-Darrasa. They went to the home of the toughs to intercede
him. Thus the father made use of his well-known forbearance
sensitivity to soothe their tempers. They not only forgave the
but swore to protect him like one of their sons. The day was
over before al-Sayyid Ahmad sent someone to them with
presents. Kamal escaped from the sticks of the toughs, but it was
iumping out of the pan into the fire. His father's stick did more
his feet than tens of others would have.
Kamal started home from school. Although the sound of the
signaling the end of the school day brought a joy to his soul
matched by any other in those days, still the breeze of freedom
inhaled lightheartedly outside the school gates did not obliterate fro
his mind the echoes of the last class, which was also his favorit
religion. That day the shaykh had recited to them the Qur'an sut
containing: "Say it is revealed unto me that a group of the jinn lis
tened" (72:1). He had explained the passage to them. Kamal h
concentrated his attention on it and raised his hand more than once
to ask about points he did not understand. Since the teacher
favorably disposed toward him on account of the extraordinary interest
he displayed in the lesson as well as his excellent memorizatiot
of Qur'an suras, he was much more open to the boy's questions that
he usually was with his pupils. The shaykh had undertaken to tel'.
him about the jinn and their different groups, including the Musli
iinn, and in particular the jinn who will gain entry to paradise in
end as an example for their brothers, the human beings. The boy
pALACE wALK
learned by heart every word he said. He kept on turning the lesson
around in his mind until he crossed the street to get to the pastry
shop
In
addition to his enthusiasm for religious studies, he knew he was
not just learning it for himself alone. He would have to repeat what
he had grasped to his mother at home, as he had been doing since
he was in Qur'anic kindergarten. He would tell her about the lesson
and she would review, in the light of this new information, what she
had previously learned from her father, a religious scholar trained at
aI-Azhar mosque university. They would discuss what they knew for
a long time Then he would teach her the new Qur'an suras she had
not previolsly memorized.
He reached the pastry shop and stretched out his hand with the
small change he had hung on to since morning. He took a piece of
pastry with the total delight he experienced only on such a sweet
occasion. It made him frequently dream of owning a candy store one
day, not to sell the candy but to eat it. He continued on his way
down al-Husayn Street, munching on the pastry with pleasure. He
hummed and forgot he had been a prisoner all day long, not allowed
to move, not to mention play or have fun. He was a sitting duck to
be struck at any moment by the teacher's stick raised threateningly
over the pupils' heads. In spite of all this, he did not hate school
totally, since his accomplishments within its walls brought him praise
and encouragement. His brother D'ahmy was impressed because he
did so well, but Kamal did not even receive one percent of his brother's
appreciation from his father.
On his way, he passed by the tobacco store of Matoussian. He
stopped under its sign, as he did every day at this hour, and raised
his small eyes to the colored poster of a woman reclining on a divan
with a cigarette between her crimson lips, from which rose a curling
plume of smoke. She was leaning her arm on the windowsill. The
cuain was drawn back to reveal a scene combining a grove of date
palms and a branch of the Nile. He privately called the woman Aisha
after his sister, since they both had golden hair and blue eyes. Although
he was just going on ten, his admiration for the mistress of
the poster was limitless. How often he thought of her enjoying life
in its most splendid manifestations. How often he imagined himself
sharing her carefree days in that luxurious room with its pristine view
that offered her, in fact both of them, its earth, palms, water, and sky.
Fie would swim in the green river valley or cross the water in the
4g
Naguib Mahfou
skiff that appeared ghostlike far off in the picture. He would.,
the palm trees till the dates fell around him or sit near the
woman with his eyes gazing at her dreamy ones.
He was not good-looking like his brothers. He was
one in the family who most resembled his sister Khadiia.
his face combined his mother's small eyes and his father's huge
but without the refinements of Khadiia's. He had a large head
forehead that protruded noticeably, making his eyes seem even
sunken than they actually were. Unfortunately, he had first
how strange he looked when a schoolmate teased him and called
a two-headed boy. Kamal had been enraged, and his anger had
him into one of his two fights. Even after he taught the boy
he was still upset and complained of his unhappiness to his
She was upset because he was. She tried to console him, telling
that people with large heads had large brains and that the
(peace upon him) had a large head. To resemble the Prophet
ultimate that anyone could aspire to.
He tore himself away from the picture of the smoking lady,
gazed this time at the mosque of al-Husayn. He had been
revere al-Husayn, and not surprisingly the holy martyr's shrine
vided his imagination with countless sensations. Although
regard for al-Husayn--matching the high status his mother in
ular and the family in general accorded him--derived from
sayn's relationship to his grandfather, the Prophet,
knowledge of the Prophet had not provided him with what
about al-Husayn and the events of his life, nor did it
his soul always hungered to have the saga of al-Husayn
he could draw from it the finest stories and the deepest
centuries-old saga had found in Kamal an attentive, passionate,
ing, believing, grieving, weeping listener. His suffering response
eased only by the fact that the martyr's head, after being
from his immaculate body, chose Egypt from all the world for it
resting place. Immaculate, it came to Cairo, glorifying God, and settled
to the ground where al-Husayn's shrine now stands.
Kamal frequently stood in front of the shrine, dreaming and think"
ing. He wished his vision could penetrate it, to see the beautiful face.
His mother assured him it had withstood the vicissitudes of time,
because of its divine secret being. It had preserved its bloom and
beauty, so that it lit up the darkness of its abode. Although unable to
fulfill his wish, he stood there for long periods, communing
himself. He expressed his love and told his problems to the Prophet
pALACE wALK
.... se from his vivid daydreams about the iinn and
ovandson. T.-- a-qj -,,ould imllore al-Husayn's assistance for his
father's tlareat.s.i.,-.-. we three months. He would usually
ms,, which he had to t
conclude his private audience with a plea for a visit in his dreams.
His custom of passing by the mosque both morning and evening had
somewhat lessened its impact on him, but the moment his eyes fe]l
on the shrine he would repeat the opening prayer of the Qur'an, even
if he pawed by repeatedly in a single day. Indeed, the shrine's familiarity
could not rob his breast of his splendid dreams. The sight of
the towering walls still evoked a response from his heart and the
lofty minaret still called out to his soul, which quickly answered.
Reciting the Qur'anic prayer, he cut across al-Husayn Street and
then turned into Khan Ja'far. From there he headed for Bayt al-Qadi
Square. Instead of going home by way of al-Nahhasin, he crossed
the square to Qirmiz Alley, despite its desolation and the fears it
aroused in him, in order to avoid passing by his father's store. His
father made him tremble with terror. He could not imagine that a
jinni popping out at him would frighten him any more than his father
screaming at him in anger. His distress was doubled, because he was never convinced of the appropriateness of the stern commands with
which his father pursued him in his attempt to keep the boy from the
fun and games he craved. Even if he had seriously wished to yield to
his father's wishes and had tried to spend all his free time sitting
quietly with his hands folded together, he would not have been able
m obey that haughty, tyrannical will. He furtively took his fun behind
his father's back whenever he felt like it, at home or in the street. His
father knew nothing of this, unless a member of the household, exasperated
when Kamal got out of hand and carried things too far,
informed on him.
Kamai had gotten a ladder one day and climbed onto the arbor of
hyacinth beans and jasmine, high above the roofs. His mother, seeing
him there poised between earth and sky, had shrieked in terror until she had forced him to come down. Her concern over the consequences
of such dangerous sport had won out over her fear of exposing
him to his father's severity. She had told her husband what
Kamal had been up to. He had immediately summoned him and ordered
him to stretch out his feet. He had beaten them with his stick,
paying no attention to Kamal's screams, which filled the house. Then
the boy had limped out of the room to join his brothers and sisters
in the sitting room. They had been trying not to laugh, except for
Khadija. She had taken him in her arms and whispered to him, "You
Naguib Mahfou
deserved it.... What were you doing, climbing the
and bumping your head against the sky? Did you think
zeppelin?" Except for such dangerous games, his mother z
and allowed him as much innocent play as he wanted.
He was often amazed to remember that this same father
sweet and kind to him not so long ago, when he was a
AI-Sayyid Ahmad had enjoyed playing with him and fron
time had treated him to various kinds of sweets. He had
best to lighten Kamal's circumcision day, hideous though it
filling his lap with chocolates and candy and smothering
care and affection. Then h6w quickly everything had
tion had turned to severity, tender conversation to shout
dling to blows. He had even made circumcision itself a
terrifying the boy. For a long time Kamal had been confus
thought it possible they might inflict the same fate on what
left.
It was not just fear which he felt toward his father. His
him was as great as his fear. He admired his strong, "
pearance, his dignity that swept everyone along with it,
of his clothing, and the ability he believed him to have to
thing. Perhaps it was the way his mother spoke about her
that put him in such awe of him. He could not imagine that any
man in the world could equal al-Sayyid Ahmad's power,
wealth. As for love, everyone in the household loved the man
point of worship. Kamal's small heart absorbed its love for him
this environment, but that love remained a hidden jewel,
inside him by fear and terror.
He approached Qirmiz Alley with its vaulted roof, which the
used as a theater for their nightly games. Although it frightened hi!
hi her's stor
he preferred going that way to passing by "s at
he entered the cavelike space he started reciting, "Say He is the
God" (Qur'an, 112:1), in a loud voice that resounded in the
beneath the curves of the roof His eyes looked eagerly ahead at
distant mouth of the tunnel where light shone from the street.
quickened his steps, still repeating the Qur'an sura to keep fro
thinking about the iinn, for iinn have no power over anyone
arms himself with God's verses. His father's anger, once it flared
could not be averted, even if he recited all of God's Book. He
the vaulted section of the alley for the other half. At the end
could see Palace Walk and the entrance of Hammam al-Sultati
Then his eyes fell on his home's dark green wooden grilles
pALACE WALK f
the large door with its bronze knocker. His mouth opened in a
smile at the wide variety of amusements this place harbored
happy
from all the neighboring houses would run
for him. Soon the boys
to join him in his wide courtyard, with its several chambers, surrounding
the oven room. There would be fun and games and sweet
potatoes.
At that moment he saw the Suars omnibus slowly crossing the
street heading for Palace Walk. His heart leapt. Pleasure at his own
cleverness filled him. At once he tucked his book bag under his left
arm and raced to catch it. He jumped on the back steps, but the
conductor did not let him enjoy his pleasure for very long. He came
and asked the boy for his fare, giving him a suspicious, challenging
look. Kamal told him ingratiatingly that he would get off as soon as
it stopped but could not while it was moving. The conductor turned
from him and yelled to the driver to stop the vehicle. He was angrily
scolding Kamal, but when he looked away the boy seized the opportunity
to tread on the instep of his foot, take a swing at him, and hop
to the ground. He shot off in flight. The conductor's curses that followed
him were filthier than balls of mud with stones inside. It had
not been a deliberate plan or an original one. He had simply been
delighted to see a boy do it that morning. When he got the chance
to try it himself, he did.
Except for the father, the family gathered shortly before sunset
what they called the coffee hour. The chosen site was the
sitting room surrounded by the children's bedrooms, the
a fourth small room set aside for studying. Its floor was spread
colored mats. Divans with pillows and cushions stood in the
Hanging from the ceiling was a large lantern illuminated by
equally large kerosene lamp. The mother sat on a sofa in the
In front of her was a large brazier where the
in the embers topped by ashes. To her right was a table holding
brass tray with cups lined up on it. The children were
her, including those permitted to drink coffee with her, like Yasha
and Fahmy, and those barred from it by custom and etiquette, iik
the two sisters and Kamal, who contented themselves with the
versation.
This hour was well loved by them. It was a time to enjoy
together as a family and to have a pleasant chat. They would duste
under their mother's wing with love and all-embracing affection. TI
very way they sat leaning back with their legs folded under the
showed how free and relaxed they felt.
While Khadija and Aisha urged the coffee drinkers to finish so the!,
could read their fortunes in the grounds, Yasin talked for a time am
then read a story about two orphan girls from an anthology call
Evening Tales for the Peotle. He was in the habit of devoting some 0
his free time to reading stories and poems. It was not because he fel
a need for more education, since at that time the primary certifica
was no mean achievement. Rather, he loved to be entertained a
was infatuated with poetry and good style. He looked, with hi
massive body in a loose house shirt, like an enormous water skit
Yet, by the standards of the time, his girth did not detract fro
the good looks of his full brown face with its seductive black ey
joined eyebrows, and sensuous lips. Despite his youth--he was onl
twenty-one--his overall appearance revealed a full-fledged manli"
hess.
Kamal clung to Yasin to garner whatever rare stories he would
pALACE WALl(3
toss him now and again. He kept asking for more, oblivious to the
distress his insistence caused his brother. Kamal wanted to satisfy the
yearnings that set his imagination on fire at this time every day. How
quickly Yasin would be distracted from him by the conversation or
From time to time Yasin would favor
get caught up in the reading, intense, with some brief words which,
if they answered one of his questions, were very likely to arouse
him, when his urging became
and
evefl
new questions he could not answer. Kamal kept looking, sadly
he was busy reading. This skill furJealously,
at his brother whena magical world. Kamal's inability to
ished Yasin with the key to
read the story by himself vexed him. How sad it made him to have
the book in his hands, to be able to turn the pages to his heart's
content, and not be able to decipher the symbols and thus enter the
world of visions and dreams. Kamal found in this facet of Yasin a
stimulus for his imagination, supplying him with a variety of pleasures
but also arousing painful cravings. He would often raise his
eyes to his brother and ask him apprehensively, "What happened
after that?"
The young man would snort in response: "Don't give me a hard
time with your questions. Don't push your luck. If I don't tell you
today, then tomorrow." Nothing made Kamal more unhappy than
having to wait until the next day. The word "tomorrow" came to be
linked in his mind with sadness. It was not unusual for him to turn
to his mother after the gathering broke up in hopes that she would
tell him what "happened after that," but she did not know the story
of the two orphan girls or the others Yasin read. Since it grieved her
to turn him away disappointed, she would tell him what stories she
remembered about brigands and the jinn. Slowly his imagination
would be diverted to these, and he would be partially consoled.
In that coffee hour Kamal frequently felt lost and neglected by his
family. Hardly anyone paid attention to him. Their endless conversations
made them forget him. He was not above fabricating something
to excite their interest, if only briefly. Thus he threw himself
into the course of the conversation, daringly interrupting its flow.
Like a torpedo going off, he said suddenly in a high-pitched voice,
as though he had all at once remembered a momentous event, "What
an unforgettable sight I saw on my way home. I saw a boy jump on
the steps of the Suars omnibus. He slapped the conductor and then
rushed off at top speed. But the man raced after him till he caught
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