The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street

by Naguib Mahfouz

The bridegroom asked in amazement, “Mother, did you fight over a kitchen?”

  Laughing, Ahmad said, “Do the struggles between nations have grander causes than that?”

  Ibrahim remarked ironically, “Your mother is as powerful as England. While mine … well, may God have mercy on her.”

  Kamal arrived. He was wearing an elegant white suit, but his face was distinguished as always by his protruding forehead, enormous nose, gold spectacles, and thick but compact mustache. He was carrying a large package that promised to be a fine present. As she smilingly examined it, Khadija cautioned him, “Watch out, brother. If you don't go ahead and marry, you'll always be taking presents to other people without getting anything in return. There's a whole family of young people about to get married. We have Ahmad, and Yasin has Ridwan and Karima. Start making plans now to do what's right.”

  Ahmad asked his uncle, “Has the school vacation begun?”

  Removing his fez and gazing at the beautiful bride, Kamal replied. “There's only a short period left while we monitor and correct the elementary-level examination.”

  Na'ima disappeared and returned shortly with a silver tray fiLed with sweets of various different types and flavors. For a time nothing washeard but the noise of lips smacking and mouths sucking. Then Ibrahim started to recount what he remembered of his own wedding, the reception, and the male and female vocalists. Aisha listened with a smiling face and a sad heart. Kamal also followed this narrative with great interest, since it reminded him of thingshe remembered and of othershe had forgotten and wanted to learn about.

  Laughing, Ibrahim said, “Al-Sayyid Ahmad was just the same as he is today or even more severe. But my mother, may God be compassionate to her, declared decisively, ‘Al-Sayyid Ahmad can do anything he wishes at his house. But in our home we'll celebrate as much as we want.’ And that's what happened. Al-Sayyid Ahmad was accompanied to the wedding by his friends, may God be gracious to them all. I remember that Ridwan's grandfather, Mr. Muhammad Iffat, was one of them. They sat in the reception room, far removed from the commotion.”

  Khadija added, “Jalila, the most renowned performer of her time, entertained that evening.”

  Ashe thought of the aged madam, who still boasted of her successes in his father's era, Kamal felt like smiling.

  Stealing a look at Aisha, Ibrahim remarked, “We used to have our own private singer in the house. Her voice was more beautiful than that of any professional musician. She made us think of Munira al-Mahdiya at her prime.”

  Aisha blushed and replied quietly, “Her voice has been silent for a long lime. She's forgotten how to sing.”

  Kamal said, “Na'ima sings too. Haven't you heard her?”

  Ibrahim answered, “I understand she does, but I haven't heard her yet. The truth is that we've had more opportunities to observe* her piety than her singing. Yesterday I told her, ‘Your husband is one of the most pious Believers, but you must postpone your prayers and devotions for a while.’ ”

  They all laughed. Then Ahmad taunted his brother, “The only thing your bride hasn't done yet is join the followers of Shaykh Ali al-Manufi.”

  The bridegroom retorted, “It was our shaykh who first advised me to marry.”

  Ahmad continued to tease his brother: “It seems the Muslim Brethren have made marriage a plank in their political platform.”

  Turning to Kamal, Ibrahim said, “You were very young then I mean when I got married. And you had a lot more hair than today. You accused me and my brother of stealing your sisters and never forgave us.”

  “I was a blank page then,” Kamal thought. “My struggles of conscience were not yet recorded there. They speak of married bliss. Haven't they heard what grumbling spouses say about it? I cherish Na'ima too much for me to tolerate a husband's growing tired of her. What is there in life that doesn't turn out to be a fraud?”

  Commenting on her husband's statement, Khadija said, “We thought you were accusing our bridegrooms because you loved us. But eventually it became clear that you spoke from a hatred for marriage that you've had since you were a child.”

  Kamal laughed along with the others. He loved Khadija, and his affection was strengthened by his knowledge that she loved him dearly. Although upset by the young bridegroom's fanaticism, he liked and admired Ahmad. Kamal was fleeing matrimony but rather enjoyed having Khadija remind him of it at every opportunity. Profoundly influenced by the conjugal atmosphere that surrounded him, intoxicating hisheart and senses, he felt a longing, although not for anyone or anything in particular. He wondered, as if for the first time, “What's keeping me from getting married? … My intellectual life, as I once claimed? Today I doubt the worth of both thought and the thinker. Is it fear, vengeance, masochism, or some reaction to my former love? My life provides evidence to support any of these hypotheses.”

  Ibrahim Shawkat asked Kamal, “Do you know why I'm sorry you're a bachelor?”

  “Yes?”

  “I'm convinced you'd be an exemplary husband if you did marry, for you're a family man by nature. You're organized,upright, and a respected civil servant. No doubt somewhere on this earth there's a girl who deserves you, and you're depriving her of her opportunity.”

  Even mules occasionally spoke words of wisdom… a girl somew iere in the world, but where? Yet he was unfairly accused of being upright, for he was nothing but a sinful and hypocritical pagan inebriate. A girl somewhere on the earth, presumably not in Jalila's brothel on al-Gawhari Alley…. Why were pains struggling with each other in hisheart? How could one describe the kind of perplexity from which the only refuge was drink and lust? It was said that if you marry and have children, you will be immortal. He yearned in the worst possible way for all forms and varieties of immortality. In his despair would he finally resort to this trite and instinctual method? There was always hope that death would bring no pain to disturb his eternal repose. Death appeared frightening and senseless, but with life having lost all meaning, death seemed the only true pleasure left. How extraordinary it was that scholars devoted themselves to the advancement of science in their laboratories. How amazing it was that leaders jeopardized their careers for the sake of the constitution. But people who wandered aimlessly in their anxious torment -God's mercy on them.

  Kamal looked from Ahmad to Abd al-Muni'm with a mixture of admiration and delight. The new generation was making its difficuk way to well-defined goals without doubt or anxiety. He asked himself, “What's the secret of my enervating disease?”

  Ahmad said, “I'm inviting the newlyweds, my parents, and my aunt to join me in a box at al-Rihani's theater this Thursday.”

  Khadija asked, “Al-Rihani?”

  Ibrahim explained, “The actor who plays Kishkish Bey!”

  Khadija laughed and said, “Yasin was almost thrown out of our house soon after he was first married because he took Ridwan's mother to see Kishkish one night.”

  “That's the way things were back then,” Ahmad said, dismissing the implicit criticism. “Nowadays my grandfather wouldn't object to my aandmother's going to see Kishkish Bey.”

  Khadija replied, “Take the newlyweds and your father. The radio's enough for me.”

  Aisha said, “And coming to your house is sufficient entertainment for me.”

  Khadija launched into a rendition of the tale of Yasin and Kishkish Bey. Kamal happened to glance at his watch and remembered his appointment with Riyad Qaldas. So he rose and asked their permission to leave.

  135

  “ARE YOU really able to enjoy the beauties of nature only a few days before the examination?” one student asked another in a group sitting spread out in a semicircle on a green hill at the top of which stood a wooden pavilion occupied by more students. As far as the eye could see there were clusters of palms and flower beds separated by mosaic walks.

  The second student answered, “Just as surely as Abd al-Muni'm Shawkat can get married shortly before it.”

  Abd al-Muni'm, who was seated toward the center of the semicircle near
Ahmad Shawkat, said, “Contrary to what you think, a married student has the best possible chance of passing.”

  Sitting next to Ridwan Yasin at the other side of the semicircle, Hilmi Izzat remarked, “That's if the husband is one of the Muslim Brethren.”

  Ridwan laughed and revealed his pearly teeth, although this discussion depressed him. The whole subject of marriage awakened his anxieties, for he did not know whether he would embark on this adventure. The apparent necessity of marriage made it all the more terrifying, since it did not correspond to either his physical or his spiritual longings.

  A student asked, “Who are the Muslim Brethren?”

  Hilmi Izzat replied, “A religious group with the goal of reviving Islam, intellectually and practically. Haven't you heard of their circles that have been established in all the districts?”

  “Does it differ from the Young Men's Muslim Association?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  Pointing to Abd al-Muni'm Shawkat, he answered, “Ask the Muslim Brother.”

  In his powerful voice, Abd al-Muni'm said, “We're not merely an organization dedicated to teaching and preaching. We attempt to understand Islam as God intended it to be: a religion, a way of life, a code of law, and a political system.”

  “Is talk like this appropriate for the twentieth century?”

  The forceful voice answered, “And for the hundred and twentieth century too.”

  “Confronted by democracy, Fascism, and Communism, we're dumbfounded. Then there's this new calamity.”

  Laughing, Ahmad observed, “But it's a godly calamity!”

  There was an outburst of laughter, and Abd al-Muni'm glared at his brother angrily. Ridwan Yasin thought his cousin's words ill chosen and said, “ ‘Calamity’ isn't the right word.”

  The same student asked Abd al-Muni'm, “Do you stone people who disagree with you?”

  “Young people are given to deviant views and dissolute behavior. They deserve far worse than stoning, but we don't stone anyone. Instead we provide guidance and direction through moral suasion and example. There is a fine illustration in my own household, for I have a brother who is ripe for stoning. Here he is laughing about it in front of you and showing disrespect to his Creator, may He be glorified.”

  Ahmad laughed, and Hilmi Izzat told him, “If you feel threatened by your brother, I invite you to live with me in al-Darb al-Ahmar.”

  “Are you as bad as he is?”

  “Certainly not. But we Wafdists are a tolerant bunch. The senior adviser to our leader is a Coptic Christian. That's what we're like.”

  The other student continued to question Abd al-Muni'm: “How can you advocate nonsense like this in the same month that the foreign capitulations have been abolished?”

  Abd al-Muni'm asked in return, “Should we give up our religion in order to please foreigners?”

  Approaching the same topic from a totally different angle, Ridwan Yasin remarked, “The capitulations were abrogated. I wonder what critics of the treaty can say now?”

  “Those critics are insincere,” Hilmi Izzat declared. “They're just envious and spiteful. True and total independence can only be seized by armed combat. How could they hope to achieve more by negotiating than we have?”

  A voice remarked angrily, “Allow us to wonder about the future.”

  “What point is there in discussing the future in May with the examination staring us in the face? Spare us. After today to give myself time to study I'm not coming back to the college.”

  “Not so fast. There aren't any positions waiting for us. What future is there for Law or Arts students? You can either loaf around or take some job as a clerk. Go ahead and wonder about your futures, if you want.”

  “Now that the capitulations favoring foreigners have been abolished, doors will start to open.”

  “Doors? There are more people than doors!”

  “Listen: Al-Nahhas broadened the system of admissions to the University after many had been arbitrarily excluded. Won't he also be able to find jobs for us?”

  Then tongues fell silent and faces looked off toward the far end of the park, where a flock of four young women approached from the University en route to Giza. It was hardly possible to identify them, b at as they were advancing with deliberate speed there was hope of a closer look. The path they were following circled around the spot where the young men sat before it turned off to the left. When the women came into plain view, their names and those of their faculties were on the boys' lips. There was a woman from Law and three from Arts.

  Looking at one of them, Ahmad said to himself, “Alawiya Sabri”. The name galvanized him. She was a young woman with an Egyptian version of Turkish beauty. Slender and of medium height, she had a fair complexion and coal-black hair. Her wide black eyes had lofty eyelids, and her eyebrows met in the center. She was distinguished by her aristocratic demeanor and refined gestures. Moreover, she was a classmate in the first university year. He had learned and there is no end of infomiation that an inquiring mind may acquire that she had put her name down for sociology, just as he had. Although he had not yet had a chance to exchange a single word with her, she had aroused his interest at first sight. For yearshe had ga2ed admiringly at Na'ima, but she had never shaken him to the core. This girl was truly remarkable, and he looked forward to a platonic and possibly a romantic relationship with her.

  Once the flock was out of sight again, Hilmi Izzat said, “Soon the Arts Faculty is going to resemble a women's college.”

  Looking from one to another of the Arts students in the semicircle, Ridwan Yasin warned, “Don't trust the friendship of law students who visit you frequently in your college between lectures. Their intentions are quite reprehensible”. He laughed loudly, even though he was anything but happy then. Talking about the girls made him uneasy and sad.

  “Why are girls so interested in the Arts Faculty?”

  “Because the teaching profession offers them more opportunities than most others.”

  Hilmi Izzat said, “That's true, but there's also something feminine about instruction in the arts. Rouge, manicures, kohl for eyes, poetry, and stories all fall into one category.”

  Everyone laughed, even Ahmad, and despite their vigorous protests the other Arts students joined in. Ahmad retorted, “This unfair judgment applies equally to medicine. For a long time nursing has been considered a woman's job. The truth not yet firmly established in your souls is that men and women must be believed to be equal.”

  Smiling, Abd al-Muni'm said, “I don't know whether we praise or censure women when we call them our equals.”

  “If it's a question of rights and duties, then it's praise, not blame.”

  Abd al-Muni'm continued: “Islam holds men and women to be equal except with regard to inheritance.”

  Ahmad responded sarcastically, “Even in slavery it has treated them equally.”

  Abd al-Muni'm protested furiously, “You don't know anything about your religion. That's the tragedy.”

  Turning to Ridwan Yasin, Hilmi Izzat smilingly inquired, “What do you know about Islam?”

  Another student asked Hilmi, “And how about you?”

  Abd al-Muni'm asked his brother, Ahmad, “What knowledge of yours lets you blather on so?”

  Ahmad replied calmly, “I know it's a religion, and that's enough for me. I don't believe in religions.”

  Abd al-Muni'm asked disapprovingly, “Do you have some proof that all religions are false?”

  “Do you have any proof they're true?”

  Raising his voice enough to make the young man sitting between the two brothers look from one to the other of them with some agitation, Abd al-Muni'm said, “I do. Every Believer does. But allow me to ask you first what you live by.”

  “My own personal beliefs… in science, humanity, and the future. These beliefs entail various duties intended to help establish a new order on earth.”

  “You destroy everything that makes man a human being.”


  “Say rather that the survival of a creed for more than a thousand years is not a sign of its strength but of the degradation of some human beings, for this flies in the face of life's normal process of renewal. Conduct and ideas appropriate for me when I was a child should change now that I am a man. For a long time people worshipped nature and other human beings. We can overcome our servitude to nature through science and inventions. Slavery to other human beings should be opposed by progressive theories. Anything else is a brake obstructing the free movement of humanity's wheel.”

  Disgusted by the thought that Ahmad was his brother, Abd al-Muni'm remarked, “It's easy to be an atheist. It's a simple, escapist solution, allowing you to shirk a Believer's responsibilities to his Lord, to himself, and to other people. No proof for atheism is any stronger than those for faith. Thus we do not choose by our intellects but by our conduct.”

  Ridwan interjected, “Don't let yourselves get carried away by the fury of your debate. Since you're brothers, the best thing would be for you to take the same side.”

  Hilmi Izzat, who was afflicted at times by inexplicable moments of rebelliousness, burst out, “Faith! Humanity! The future!… What rubbish! The only possible system is one based entirely on science. There is only one thing we need to believe in, and that is the extermination of human weakness in all its manifestations, no matter h ow stern our science seems. The goal is to bring humanity to an ideal condition, pure and powerful.”

  “Are these the new principles of the Wafd Party, subsequent to the treaty?”

  Hilmi Izzat laughed, and this restored him to his normal good humor. Ridwan explained, “He's really a Wafdist but occasionally entertains bizarre and alien notions. He advocates killing everyone, when it may simply mean that he didn't sleep well the night before.”

  The reaction to this fierce quarrel was universal silence, which pleased Ridwan. His eyes roamed around, following some kites that circled overhead or gazing at the groups of palm trees. Everyone else felt free to express his opinion, even if it attacked his Creator. Yet he was compelled to conceal the controversies raging in his own soul, where they would remain a terrifying secret that threatened him. He might as well have been a scapegoat or an alien. Who had divided human behavior into normal and deviant? How could an adversary also serve as judge? Why were wretched people so often mocked?