Playwrights From Egypt

"he silently acknowledged he did love her and that he would not hesitate to give his own life to bring her safely back."

"(Narrator, p. 141)"

"It was that dog who betrayed me, in collusion with her. Then disaster followed disaster until finally my daughter rejected me"

"(Page 32)."

""He walked on until he reached the Zahra offices in Maarif Square, an enormous building, where his first thought was that it would be very difficult to break into"

"(Page 35)."

"Things are no longer what they used to be. In the past you were both a thief and my friend, for reasons you well know. Now the situation has changed. If you go back to burglary you'll be a thief and nothing else""

"(Page 44)."

"Your envy and arrogance were aroused, so you rushed in headlong, as always, like a madman""

"(Page 53)."

"Didn't Rauf Ilwan used to say that our intentions were good but lacked order or discipline?""

"(Page 63)."

"You are now one of those who commit murder; you have a new identity now and a new destiny! You used to take precious goods-now you take worthless lives!""

"(Page 72)."

"the eyes of their hearts are open, but those in their heads are closed!""

"(Page 75)."

"She ran up the rest of the way up and stopped in front of him out of breath[...] 'It's you!' she said, breathless and happy, seizing his arm""

"(Page 84-85)."

"the death blocking his path, all the things that made Rauf's death an absolute necessity""

"(Page 124)."

"Why, you're capable of miracles,' he told himself. 'You'll get away all right'""

"(Page 126)."

"Finally I became convinced that I had to find Sheikh Zaabalawi."

"Who is Zaabalawi?’ He had looked at me hesitantly as though doubting my ability to understand the answer. However, he had replied, ‘May his blessing descend upon you, he’s a true saint of God, a remover of worries and troubles. Were it not for him I would have died miserably—’”"

"The days passed and brought with them many illnesses, for each one of which I was able, without too much trouble and at a cost I could afford, to find a cure, until I became afflicted with that illness for which no one possesses a remedy.”"

"She wanted to disguise her embarrassment with irony as usual, even if it was at her own expense.”"

"(Chapters 5, Page 30)"

"She was thoroughly amazed that this sin made him more amiable.”"

"(Chapters 2, Page 10)"

"I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from the intimacy of my home”"

"(Paragraph 5)"

"And while the lady would sometimes smile, she would often scowl and scold”"

"(Paragraph 14)."

"School’s not a punishment. It’s the factory that makes useful men out of boys. Don’t you want to be like your father and brothers?”"

"(Paragraph 4)"

"We walked along a street lined with gardens; on both sides were extensive fields planted with crops, prickly pears, henna trees, and a few date palms.”"

"(Paragraph 2)"

"Her anguish over the changes that had befallen her was considerable, although at first she had welcomed them as an expression of her grief. Then she had begun to wonder anxiously if she might not need her health to get through the remainder of her life.""

"(Mahfouz, 4)"

"Voices were blended and intermingled in a tumultuous swirl around which eddied laughter, shouts, the squeaking of doors and windows, piano and accordion music, rollicking handclaps, a policeman's bark, braying, grunts, coughs of hashish addicts and screams of drunkards, anonymous calls for help, raps of a stick, and singing by individuals and groups."

"(Mahfouz 125)"

"Kamal felt like a man suddenly finds himself beneath a streetcar, after feeling completely satisfied about his safety and security.'""

"(Mahfouz 273)"

"There was a change in his heart too. He felt aversion and repulsion.""

"(Mahfouz, 85)"

"Your rebellion against religion was a sudden leap I didn't expect.'""

"(Mahfouz 366)"

"He has this style that goes very quickly through generations, giving little cameo portraits of people and sort of bringing it all together in a very exciting way."

"[Mahfouz's fiction allowed readers the] rare privilege of entering a national psychology, in a way that thousands of journalistic articles or television documentaries could not achieve."

"Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian novelist who was the first Arabic writer to receive the Nobel Prize for literature and who was often considered the greatest writer in the Arab world... lived his entire life in Cairo, which provided the inspiration and backdrop for almost all of his writing... He set most of his works in the ancient Islamic quarter of Cairo, with its mosques and serpentine alleys teeming with shopkeepers, metalsmiths, government workers, peasants, prostitutes and thieves. His vibrant novels portraying life at every level of society were often likened to those of such other writers of urban social realism as Charles Dickens, Honore de Balzac and Emile Zola."