"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."

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions."

"God did not intend religion to be an exercise club."

"According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment."

"It was amazing that in this country where people allowed emotion to guide their politics they approached love with the precision of accountants."

"It is something worth picking from the thrash-can the alluring experience of the working days."

"Sire, after you, no one from your seed shall sit upon the throne of Egypt."

"Monra recited this prayer with an unsteady voice. His eyes flowed with hot tears that trickled down his thin and drawn cheeks. They wet his hoary beard, as he raised his aged head, looking with emotion upon the pallid face of his wife, confined to her childbed."

"My lord, our immortal philosopher Kagemni, vizier to King Huni, says that patience is man's refuge in times of despair, and his armor against misfortunes."

"Patience allows ministers and obedient subjects to bear great tribulations-but the greatness of kings is in overcoming calamities, not enduring them. For this reason, the gods have compensated them for their want of patience with an abundance of power."

"My lord, Your Divine Majesty! Why differentiate your lofty self from the people of Egypt, as one would the head from the heart or the soul from the body? You are, my lord, the token of their honor, the mark of their eminence, the citadel of their strength, and the inspiration for their power. You have endowed them with life, glory, might, and happiness. In their affection there is neither humiliation nor enslavement; but rather, a beautiful loyalty and venerable love for you, and for the homeland."

"And of what value is the life of an individual? It equals not a single dry tear to one who looks to the far future and the grand plan. For this I would be cruel without any qualms. I would strike with an iron hand, and drive hundreds of thousands through hardships-not from stupidity of character or despotic egotism."

"She is beauty herself, Your Majesty. She is an irresistible temptation, a desire that cannot be controlled. The philosopher Hof, who is one of her closest friends, has remarked quite correctly that the most dangerous things a man can do in his life is to set eyes upon the face of Rhadopis."

"A look of vehemence appeared on the king's face. "Is it right that Pharao should yield to the will of the people?"