Mahfouz Shines on World Literary Stage

By: Ali Audah* "My pride wounded and my heart broken, I wander aimlessly about like a stray dog. The heat does away with the pleasures of walking. Café Riche is a refuge from the pain of loneliness. …This is a temple where offerings are made to the late hero, who has become a symbol of lost hope, hope for the poor and the alienated…"

(From "Elwan Fawwaz Muhtashimi" in The Day the Leader was Killed)

September 25, 2000

The Day the Leader was Killed
Author :Naguib Mahfouz
Translator :Malak Mashem
Publisher :Anchor Books, New York, 2000
At dawn one day, when Muhtashimi woke up, the first thing he did was utter a small prayer of thanks. Then he went through his ritual ablution, after which he performed his dawn prayer.

He thanked God he could still be useful at such an advanced age. "I’m old but healthy. Praise be to God." He had gone through three consecut

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