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Naguib Mahfouz
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Naguib Mahfouz

novelist, screenwriter, translator, playwright, writer, intellectual, journalist, short story writer, autobiographer, author

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1911  – 2006

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 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. He is the only Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. He published 35 novels, over 350 short stories, 26 screenplays, hundreds of op-ed columns for Egyptian newspapers, and seven plays over a 70-year career, from the 1930s until 2004. All of his novels are set in Egypt, and always mention the concept of "the lane" as a microcosm of the world. His most famous works include The Cairo Trilogy and Children of Gebelawi. Many of Mahfouz's works have been adapted into Egyptian and international films; Making him one of the most widely adapted Arab authors. While Mahfouz's literature is classified as realist literature, existential themes appear in it.

All Quotes by Naguib Mahfouz

“I wake up early in the morning and walk for an hour. If I have something to write, I prefer to write in the morning until midday, and in the afternoon, I eat.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“Insults are the business of the court.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“Death is more merciful than hope itself! There is nothing surprising in this, for death is divinely appointed, while hope is the creation of human folly. Both end in frustration. Am I destined to lead a life of endless frustration?”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“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.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“It was amazing that in this country where people allowed emotion to guide their politics they approached love with the precision of accountants.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“History is full of people who went to prison or were burned at the stake for proclaiming their ideas. Society has always defended itself.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“I was a government employee in the morning and a writer in the evening.”
— Naguib Mahfouz
“God did not intend religion to be an exercise club.”
— Naguib Mahfouz