Overview

Nobel winning author, Naguib Mahfouz's late-translated novella, Heart of the Night is now available for the first time in paperback Jaafar Ibrahim Sayyed al-Rawi is guided by his motto, “let life be filled with holy madness to the last breath.” He narrates his life story to a friend during one long night in a café in old Cairo. Through a series of bad decisions, he has lost everything: his family, his position in society, and his fortune. A man driven by his passions, he married a beautiful Bedouin nomad for love, and as a consequence pays a punishingly high price. From a life of comfort with a promising future guaranteed by his wealthy grandfather, he descended to the spartan life of a pauper, after being disinherited. Jaafar faces his tribulations with surprising stoicism and hope, sustained by his strong convictions, his spirituality, his sense of mission, and his deep desire to bring social justice to his people. Heart of the Night is a classic Mahfouz gem exploring marriage across class lines, spirituality, and the harsh realities of a precarious, life written by one of Egypt's most celebrated literary masters.

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Reviews

The Arab world's foremost novelist --The New York Times Mahfouz's work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. --The Los Angeles Times A towering literary figure --The Economist Egypt's greatest living writer and one of the world's most humane literary figures --Laila Lalami, The Nation Timeless.' --New Statesman A master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling --The Guardian

The Arab world's foremost novelist --The New York Times Mahfouz's work is freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical. --The Los Angeles Times A towering literary figure --The Economist Egypt's greatest living writer and one of the world's most humane literary figures --Laila Lalami, The Nation Timeless.' --New Statesman

Author Information

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. His nearly forty novels and hundreds of short stories range from re-imaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. In 1988, he was the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in August 2006. Aida Bamia is a literary translator and professor emeritus of Arabic language and literature at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she lives.

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