WRITER

Naguib Mahfouz

1911 - 2006

Naguib Mahfouz

Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (Arabic: نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا, IPA: [næˈɡiːb mɑħˈfuːzˤ]; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind". Mahfouz is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers in Arabic literature, along with Taha Hussein, to explore themes of existentialism. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Naguib Mahfouz has received more than 1,389,893 page views. His biography is available in 135 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 129 in 2019). Naguib Mahfouz is the 151st most popular writer (up from 164th in 2019), the 34th most popular biography from Egypt (up from 39th in 2019) and the most popular Egyptian Writer.

Naguib Mahfouz is most famous for his novel, The Cairo Trilogy. This trilogy consists of Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street.

Memorability Metrics

1.4M
Page Views (PV)
74.38
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
135
Languages Editions (L)
7.89
Effective Languages (L*)
5.78
Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Ḥaḍrat al-muḥtaram

1975

Arabian Nights and Days

1994

The Seventh Heaven

2006

Bidāyah wa-nihāyah

1970

Zuqāq al-Midaqq

1965

The journey of Ibn Fattouma

Fiction

Thwarted in marriage, Ibn Fattouma sets out with a caravan to explore the world, and along the way he marries, sires children, loses his family, is imprisoned for twenty years, and is involved in two civil wars.

19924 / 5

قصر الشوق

Fiction, Protected DAISY, Accessible book

Continuing the story of al-Sayyid Ahmad and his family, this is a fascinating look at Egypt in the 1920s. Increased personal freedoms mix tenuously with traditions of family control, as two of Ahmad's sons court alluring women.

1957

ليالي ألف ليلة

Fiction, Islamic countries, Arab countries

Seventeen tales based on the classic, The Thousand and One Nights, but full of modern messages.

1982

بين القصرين

Islam, affairs, courtesans

Palace Walk (Arabic: بين القصرين, romanized: Bayn al-Quṣrayn, lit. 'Between Two Palaces') is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, and the first installment of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy. Originally published in 1956 with the title Bayn al-qasrayn, the book was then translated into English by William M. Hutchins and Olive Kenny, and then published by Doubleday (publisher) in 1990. The book's Arabic title translates into 'between two palaces'. The setting of the novel is Cairo around the time period of World War I. It begins in 1917, during World War I, and ends in 1919, the year of the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. The novel is written in a social realist style and reflects the social and political setting of Egypt in during 1917 to 1919. ---------- Contained in: [The Cairo trilogy](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1599697W)

1960

زقاق المدق

Fiction, Arabic fiction, Translations into English

Considered by many to be Naguib Mahfouz's best novel, Midaq Alley brings to life the residents of one of the hustling, teeming back alleys of Cairo in the 1940s. From Zaita the cripple-maker to Kirsha the cafe owner with a taste for young boys and hashish, from Abbas the barber who mistakes greed for love to Hamida who sells her soul to escape the alley, these characters vividly evoke the sights, sounds, and smells of Egypt's largest city. Long after one finishes reading, the smell of fresh bread lingers, as does the image of the men gathering at the cafe for their nightly ritual. Never has Nobel Prize-winner Mahfouz's talent for rich and luxurious storytelling been more evident than in Midaq Alley. From the Trade Paperback edition.

1965

أولاد حارتنا

Fiction, Family, Families

A poor Cairo father represents God and his sons, Jesus, Mohammed and other profits (from Christian Science Monitor 9/06/2006)

1967

ميرامار

Fiction, Protected DAISY, Accessible book

Cuatro hombres recalados en la pensión Miramar desterrados por una realidad social que los ha convertido en exiliados en su propio país. La rivalidad por conseguir los favores de Zohra Salama, una joven entre cándida y sugerente, crea una atmósfera de tensión enfermiza, donde la frustración y el sentimiento de fracaso afloran hasta desnudar el interior herido de cada uno.

1967