SOURCE: Boullata, Issa J. Review of A Leader of Men, by Yusuf Idris. The International Fiction Review 16, no. 1 (winter 1989): 82-3.

In the following review, Boullata provides a reading of the story “Abû al-Rijâl.”

Youssef Idris, born in Egypt in 1927, is one of the most prominent Arab writers today. Originally a medical doctor, he has dedicated himself to literature and written some thirty books in various genres, including short stories, novels, plays, and essays.

One of his recent stories, published in the Egyptian magazine October (November 1, 1987, pp. 40-45), is entitled “Abû al-Rijâl.” It is reprinted in Arabic in this book [A Leader of Men] with an excellent English translation.

The story is not primarily constructed as a plot of events but rather as an exploration of a main character's inner depths. The tensions that sustain its continuity and keep the reader riveted till the end derive as...