SOURCE: Somekh, S. “Za‘balāwī—Author, Theme, and Technique.” Journal of Arabic Literature 1 (1970): 24-35.

In the following essay, Somekh maintains that “Zabalawi” foreshadows themes and narrative techniques that recur in Mahfouz's later writing.

“Za‘balāwī,” a short story by Najīb Maḥfūz, was first published in 1961, and in 1963 it was incorporated with other stories in Maḥfūz's book Dunyā’ Allāh (The World of God)¹. Because it is a short story it is hardly representative of the author's work as a whole, since Maḥfūz is essentially a novelist (up to 1967 he published some twenty novels as opposed to only three collections of short stories). Nevertheless “Za‘balāwī” is an excellent example of a recurrent theme in Maḥfūz's work, which, in fact, constitutes the backbone of his later novels, especially those published in the 'sixties. Our story also foreshadows...