Working to improve mutual understanding between the Middle East and the West
Working to improve mutual understanding between the Middle East and the West
Naguib Mahfouz was familiar to newspaper readers across Egypt for his column in the leading daily Al-Ahram, in which he reflected on issues of the day, from domestic and international events, politics and economics to culture. This volume brings together his articles written between January 1989 and the knife attack in October 1994 that almost ended his life. In carefully crafted short texts his social conscience is revealed as he highlights political shortcomings, economic injustice, and corruption in Egypt and the wider Arab world. His philosophical sensitivity comes to the fore as he contemplates the meaning of a historic event, the contribution of an influential person, or what is required to lead a good life. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the New World Order, the Oslo Peace Accords, the spread of terrorism, the Cairo earthquake and even climate change – these and more come under Naguib Mahfouz’s fine scrutiny.
Naguib Mahfouz was the most important Arab writer of his generation. He was the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. R. Neil Hewison is an author and translator. He was Associate Director at the American University in Cairo Press. Rasheed El-Enany is Professor Emeritus of Modern Arabic Literature at the University of Exeter.
This is the fourth in a series of Naguib Mahfouz’s non-fiction writings, published for the first time in English translation by Gingko. Click here to view the first, second (1974-1981) and third (1982-1988) volumes.
Click here to read an interview with R. Neil Hewison, translator of this volume.
Introduction by Rasheed El-Enany
Translator’s Note by R. Neil Hewison
Towards a Society Not based on Violence
a Long-Term Treasure
Work is a Sacred Trust
This Democracy
Towards a better World
Reason in Everyday Life
A Squall from the World of Darkness
Towards integration and Civilisation
Cultural unity
On Production
Fame
War and Peace
A Call to Self-Defence
A Revolution in Education
The Sporting Spirit
Between Defence and Reform
Facing up to Problems
Science and the Cave
The anxieties of Youth
Preaching in the Modern age
Builders and Destroyers
The Meaning of Stability
A house of Wisdom
A Quiet Word Between Brothers
Towards a Better Scientific Life
Work is Life
The aims and the Reality of the July Revolution
To have a Civilised Life
The Prize for Innovation
No Escape from the Inescapable
Saad Zaghloul and the Return of the Spirit
For Democracy, Ever and always
The Workers
Crime in the Media
Illegitimate Legitimacy
Art and History
The Sixth of October
On the intellectual Path
Art and Freedom
Your Health
The People’s Assembly
Nobel 1989
Leave Hopelessness Behind and Get on with it
Storm in the Arab Teacup
A Complaint to the Discerning
The Scheduling of Problems
Towards a Global World
Gifts to Celebrate
Our Hopes for the New Year
Terrorism and Cleansing the Country of Corruption
Examples of the Age
The government’s Path
A Disease Called Dictatorship
An Essential Plan
Diagnosis and Treatment
A Call to Those Who Care about the Political Centre
A National Project
Description de l’Égypte
National Unity
On Culture
In Defence of Serious Culture
The Arab World Facing the Times
The Lifeline
A Call to Self-interest
Sectarianism, Real and Transient
Looking Again
The Summit of Hopes
A Call to hope
Our True Wealth
A New Era
A Call to the Crooked
Driving out the Spectres
Elections
Developing the Achievements of the 1952 Revolution
The Electoral System
A Return to Loyalty
Electoral Memories
Inspired by Reality
The Crime and the Mission
Arab Hopes
The Arab Road
The Passing of the Professor
The War of human Shields
War
War and Peace
Hard Lessons
Who is the Culprit?
The Security Forces
The Line Between Peace and War
A Desirable Step to Peace
The Struggle of Good and Evil
Comparing the Two Solutions
A Call to the greater Cause
A Journey into the Future
Dreaming for an Hour
Contemplating a Vision
From the Negative to the Positive
On the Latest Elections
The Independents
A President for All Seasons
The Birth of a New World
Egypt’s Battle
A Day Unlike Others
The Intellectuals
Late-Night Confessions
Interests and Ideals
Know Thyself
The Hero of the Stalls
The Gate of Hope
The Wailing Wall of the Arabs
The Tragedy, Real and Imagined
The Tragedy
The Battle for Peace
Returning Home
Tomorrow Is a New Day
The Highest Aim
Pessimism and Optimism
Leadership Suicide
Examining Memories
The Bush Initiative
The Parties
Towards a New Vision
In Defence of Liberty and Dignity
A Picture of the Arabs
The Reality and the Dream
Coming of Age
The Late Muhammad ‘Abd al-Wahab
Changing Positions
Excitement and Worth
Reading for All
Clarity
Egypt the Safeguarded
‘When One Is Tested…’
The July Revolution and 1991
An End to the Nightmare
Towards a Modern Education
Farewell Yusuf Idris
Between Love and Hate
23 August 219 Gorbachev
A Return to Cultural Invasion
The Sacred Trust of Democracy
The Model of the Age
The Russian People
Progress, Power, and Liberty
In Search of Lost Time
Honouring Those Worthy of Being Honoured
A Period of Transition
The Greater Nation
The Inescapable Battle
What the Years Promise Us
Life without Duress
The Guide in the Darkness
The Other Side of the Picture
The Devotees of Zionism
The Right Way of Life
Balance
Algeria’s Experience
The Importance of Peace
The Lifeboat
The Right and the Left
The Road of Justice
How to Preserve Our Identity
Thieves and Thieves
Talking about Disasters
A Sacred Struggle
Smog in the Cultural Air
Religious and Secular Debates
Towards a Better System
Violence
We Share Your Sorrows
Western Civilisation
The Arab Road
Protection
Playing with Fire
A New Birth in the Embrace of Democracy
The Hoped-for Change
A Valuable Youth Experiment
The Coming Citizen
Economic Reform
To the Scholars
A Difficult Birth
a Dream
Below the Poverty Line
A Salute to Those Who bring happiness
On the Freedom of Thought
Tomorrow is another Day
The Dream Needs Work
The July Revolution and the Golden Age
Survival or Extinction?
Opening the Blocked Road
A Just Freedom
The Wafd School
Days of Steadfast National Unity
The National University
Sporting Success: The Reality and the Dream
The Past and the Present in a Changing World
Cultural Concerns
Daydreams
Mood and Violence
a blessed Movement
Cultural independence
Between War and Civilisation
The Struggle
The Whole Story
The Other Side of the Coin
A Threat Response Centre
Tourism, Religion and Politics
Yahya Hakki
How are We to Confront Terrorism?
The Path of Life
A New Year
War and International Legitimacy
Egypt and Sudan
Strength in the Service of Principles
We Want a Pure awakening
The arabs in the World of Tomorrow
A Return to the New World
The Role of the intellectuals
Suggesting a New Loyalty
A Thorough Review
A New Vision
The Price of Peace
A Certificate of Good Behaviour
The audience and the Play
Role Models
Crime in the Age of innocence
Let us Make the New World
When Will We Truly End Terrorism?
What is Proper and What is Not
When We Resolve to Build the Future
The Map of Those Who Strive
Kindly Requested
Towards a New Life
The Universality of Arabic Literature
The Sun Will Rise Tomorrow
The New Reality
Freedom and Justice
Respect
The Principal Enemy
Priorities
The Flood Once More
From Self-Sacrifice to Reason
On Culture
Catastrophes on the Scales
A Hymn to the New Year
The Letters and the Ministers
Sorrow and Anger
Thought, Creativity and Freedom
The World at Your Fingertips
Identity
Comprehensive Peace
The Required Mission
A Dialogue with Violence
A Dialogue with Corruption
The Voice of Progress
Do Not Lose Hope
The Chart of Culture
The Reader and the Writer
A Conspiracy Against Islam
In the Press
A Difficult Birth!
Morals
Essential Qualities
The Near future
Secrets of Life
Love of the Homeland
The Noble Thief
The future of the Nation
An old Comic Song
Terrorism and its Kin
The Demands of the Young Generation
The Work Ethic
The Message and the Preachers
The Working Spirit
Fear of Freedom
Between Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Expression
Tomorrow is another Day 428 The Sovereignty of the Law
The People’s Dream
The Patriotic Value
universal Defence
Good Morning to the World
From Enlightenment to Comprehensive Reform
Pathological Tensions
Identity
The preservation of identity springs from a love of self, of country, of history and of memories of life and generations. There is nothing wrong with an attachment to identity, but it is not right that such attachment should extend to turning it into something sacred. There may be nothing – with the exception of religion – that is sacred about identity, for it is altogether composed of elements that can be developed, changed or renewed, even deleted or added, as may be required by advancement or progress along humanity’s long road towards the consummate life.
The defence of identity for no more reason than that it is our identity is invalid, just as the denial of identity for no more reason than being dazzled by the identity of another civilisation is also invalid. both positions are unreasonable and inauthentic and will lead to nothing but disorder and error, which means only clinging to what brings harm and no benefit, or to what is more harmful than beneficial.
This conclusion is confirmed by a presentation of the elements of which identity is composed, that is: customs, traditions, ideas and tastes. The assessment of these elements – whether as they stand or in comparison with their counterparts in other cultures – must be built on what they comprise of good or bad, or what they bring of benefit or harm, or what supports them of sincerity or beauty. based on this continuing debate, we will end up either maintaining our identity and rejecting everything that is foreign, or being influenced by others – and there is no harm in this case in favouring entire elements over those we already have. The important thing is that we act with independence of thought and freedom of choice. interaction will reveal a new identity that will not take long to become a legacy, and the identity of fathers and forefathers.
We must face the age of the great global village with courage and self-confidence.
17/2/1994
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