Hebdo Ahram: Duat photo exhibition pays tribute to Naguib Mahfouz and photojournalist Mohamed Hegazy
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Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha 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 Egyptian narrative art that applies to all mankind".
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culture · Egyptian writer (1911–2006) · novelist · screenwriter · translator · playwright · writer · intellectual · journalist · short story writer · autobiographer · author · also Naguib Mahfouz, Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha, Mahfouz
Born 11 December 1911 · Died 30 August 2006 · Q7176
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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
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It was that dog who betrayed me, in collusion with her. Then disaster followed disaster until finally my daughter rejected me
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2026· 7 entries
“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”
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“It was that dog who betrayed me, in collusion with her. Then disaster followed disaster until finally my daughter rejected me”
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“The alleys, the houses, the palaces and mosques and the people who live among them are evoked as vividly in Mahfouz's work as the streets of London were conjured by Dickens.”
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“Mahfouz's work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. The Nobel Prize acknowledges the universal significance of [his] fiction.”
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“Throughout Naguib Mahfouz's fiction there is a pervasive sense of metaphor, of a literary artist who is using his fiction to speak directly and unequivocally to the condition of his country. His work is imbued with love for Egypt and its people, but it is also utterly honest and unsentimental.”
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“Mr. Mahfouz embodied the essence of what makes the bruising, raucous, chaotic human anthill of Cairo possible.”
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2021· 1 entry
Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy announced plans to star in a biographical Television series about Mahfouz's life, written by Abdelreheem Kamal
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2019· 1 entry
Egyptian Ministry of Culture opened the Naguib Mahfouz museum located in Old Cairo near Wikala of al-Ghuri, Muzz Street and Azhar mosque, where most of Mahfouz novels take place
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2018· 1 entry
The Guardian: Lost Naguib Mahfouz stories discovered in Nobel laureate's papers
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2011· 2 entries
The Guardian: Naguib Mahfouz archive sale rouses anger
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The Guardian: Naguib Mahfouz: A centenary tribute
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2010· 1 entry
“Naguib Mahfouz in: Gary Dexter (2010) Poisoned Pens: Literary Invective Form Amis to Zola. p. 226”
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2009· 1 entry
NPR: Naguib Mahfouz's Book Of Dreams
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2006· 44 entries
The Guardian: Appreciation: Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006)
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openDemocracy: Naguib Mahfouz: a farewell tribute
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The Guardian: Nobel-winning novelist Mahfouz dies, aged 94
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The Guardian: Obituary: Naguib Mahfouz
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The Guardian: Naguib Mahfouz
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NPR: Nobel-Winning Author Naguib Mahfouz Dies at 94
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Died 2006-08-30.
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“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.”
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“Miłość kobiety jest niczym zaangażowana sztuka: nie można wątpić we wzniosłość jej celów, chociaż na uczciwość pada cień podejrzenia.”
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“According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.”
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“Na rewolucjach, które są zazwyczaj tworem wielkich umysłów i dziełem ludzi odważnych, korzystają w końcu tchórze.”
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“It was amazing that in this country where people allowed emotion to guide their politics they approached love with the precision of accountants.”
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“Il tramonto si annunciava e il Vicolo del Mortaio andava coprendosi di un velo bruno, reso ancora più cupo dalle ombre dei muri che lo cingevano da tre lati. Si apriva sulla Sanadiqiyya e poi saliva, in modo irregolare: una bottega, un caffè, un forno. Di fronte ancora una bottega, un bazar e subito la sua breve gloria terminava contro due case a ridosso, entrambe di tre piani.”
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“Niente è più brutto di una parola d'amore pronunciata freddamente da una bocca annoiata.”
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“Sire, after you, no one from your seed shall sit upon the throne of Egypt.”
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“The seer's message to the king”
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“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.”
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“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.”
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“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.”
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“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.”
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“A look of vehemence appeared on the king's face. "Is it right that Pharao should yield to the will of the people?”
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“Abbas now marveled at the strength of love, its power and its strange magic. He thought it right that God had created mankind capable of love and then left the task of developing life to the fertility of love.”
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“He [Kirsha] was a narcotics peddler and accustomed to doing his business under a veil of darkness. Normal life had eluded him and he had become a prey to perversions.”
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“He was, in fact, a veritable crouching tiger, willing to cringe and fawn until he mastered his adversary, and woe to anyone he did master! Experience had taught him that this gentleman and others like him were enemies with whom must be friendly. They were, as he put it, useful devils.”
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“Le donne se ne stavano intorno al braciere, le teste vicine una all'altra e le mani distese verso la brace ardente: quelle di Amina scarne e colle vene sporgenti; quelle asciutte, quasi pietrificate, di Aisha, quelle di Umm Hanafī coriacee come scudi di tartaruga e infine quelle di Naīma belle, di un candido bianco.”
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“It's fantastic the way these young men act. Why, they scarcely have a penny to their names, yet they see no reason why they shouldn't get married and populate the whole alley with children who get their food from garbage carts.”
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“The barber is young and Mr. Alwan is old; the barber is of the same class as Hamida and Mr. Alwan is not. The marriage of a man like Alwan to a girl like your daughter is bound to bring problems which will make her unhappy.”
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“If money is the aim and object of those who squabble for power, then there is clearly no harm in money being the objective of the poor voters.”
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“Kirsha thought of Hitler as the world's greatest bully; indeed his admiration for him stemmed from what he heard of his cruelty and barbarity. He wished him success, viewing him like those mythical bravados of literature Antar and Abu Zaid.”
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“What hopeless wretches we are. Our country is pitiful and so are the people. Why is it that the only time we find a little happiness is when the world is involved in a bloody war? Surely it's only the devil who has pity on us in this world.”
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“He and Raifa each lived in hell, in a world of tedium.”
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Mahfouz died on 30 August 2006 after complications from two falls, which he had suffered at home and in a hospital.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
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“God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.”
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“It is something worth picking from the thrash-can the alluring experience of the working days.”
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“Der kleine Mann wird mit großen Worten gefüttert." - Nagib Mahfuz zitiert in: Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, Literatur, Zuschauer der Schiffbrüche: Nagib Machfus ist tot, Stefan Weidner, 30. August 2006, faz.net”
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“Ob ein Mensch klug ist, erkennt man an seinen Antworten. Ob ein Mensch weise ist, erkennt man an seinen Fragen." - zitiert in: Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, Literatur, Zuschauer der Schiffbrüche: Nagib Machfus ist tot, Stefan Weidner, 30. August 2006, faz.net”
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“ägyptischer Schriftsteller”
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“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.”
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“Hogar no es donde naciste, es el lugar donde todos tus intentos de escapar cesan». [Home is not where you were born, it is where all your attempts to escape cease].”
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“Puedes decir si un hombre es sabio, por sus preguntas».[You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions].”
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“Deux femmes, dont l'une cherche mari, discutent de la valeur d'un prétendant.”
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“Según los principios islámicos, cuando un hombre es acusado de herejía, se le da a elegir entre el arrepentimiento y el castigo». [According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment].”
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“(arab. Tharthara Fauq An-Nil; tłum. Jacek Stępiński)”
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2004· 1 entry
Awarded Cavafy Award (2004).
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1995· 2 entries
Awarded Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (1995).
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And Egyptian TV series Afrah AlQoba, Bayn El Samaa Wa El Ard and Hadith Alsabah wa Almassaa among others
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1994· 1 entry
An extremist succeeded in attacking the 82-year-old novelist by stabbing him in the neck outside his Cairo home
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1989· 2 entries
Awarded Honorary doctorate from the University of Cairo (1989).
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After Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa calling for Rushdie and his publishers to be killed, Mahfouz called Khomeini a terrorist
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1988· 3 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature — who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.
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Awarded Grand Collar of the Order of the Nile (1988).
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Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature (1988).
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1978· 1 entry
His books were banned in many Arab countries until after he won the Nobel Prize
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1957· 2 entries
“Mahfouz (1957) Sugar Street”
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“Mahfouz (1957) Palace of Desire Part II; Cited in Matt Schudel "Leading Arab Novelist Gave Streets a Voice" in: Washington Post, August 31, 2006”
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1954· 1 entry
Quietly married a Coptic Orthodox woman from Alexandria, Atiyyatallah Ibrahim, with whom he had two daughters, Fatima and Umm Kalthum
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1952· 1 entry
Started publishing again in 1959, now prolifically pouring out novels, short stories, journalism, memoirs, essays, and screenplays
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1947· 1 entry
“Vicolo del mortaio (1947)”
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1945· 1 entry
Requested a transfer to the al-Ghuri Mausoleum library, where he interviewed residents of his childhood neighborhood as part of the "Good Loans Project"
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1938· 1 entry
In the Ministry of Islamic Endowments (Awqaf) as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Islamic Endowments
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1934· 1 entry
Mahfouz joined the Egyptian civil service, where he continued to work in various positions and ministries until retirement in 1971
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1930· 1 entry
To the Egyptian University (now Cairo University), where he studied philosophy, graduating in 1934
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1924· 1 entry
To Abbaseya, then a new Cairo suburb north of the old city, locations that would provide the backdrop for many of Mahfouz's later writings
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1911· 1 entry
Born 1911-12-11.
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