SOURCE: Elkhadem, Saad. “Youssef Idris and His Gay Leader of Men.” The International Fiction Review 17, no. 1 (winter 1990): 25-8.

In the following essay, Elkhadem views Idris's treatment of homosexuality in “Abû al-Rijâl” as pioneering.

Most Arabists and literary historians agree that Youssef (Yûsuf) Idrîs (b. 1927) is one of the most accomplished, if not the most accomplished, short-story writer in Arabic literature today. Although he has written six novels and seven plays, Idrîs's mastery is most evident in the shorter forms. His first collection of short stories, Arkhas Layâlî (The Cheapest Nights), which was published in 1954, established him as one of the leading “realist” writers in Egypt. “Arkhas Layâlî,” the title story, which appeared earlier in the Cairene newspaper al-Misrî,¹ and which deals with the sad and depressing life of the downtrodden fellahin, was immediately recognized as a pioneering work. This instant acknowledgment encouraged...