The passing away of a legend

Naguib Mahfouz is dead. He died in a hospital as a result of kidney failure. His passing transpires 12 years after a fundamentalist imbecile attempted to assassinate him for his incisive and critical depictions of Egyptian society.

You see, Mahfouz did what very few of his peers dared: he raised to the surface, for all to see, aspects of his society that fundamentalists, and even the majority of people, so desperately sought to burry underneath veils of secrecy and beards of hypocrisy. He earned a well-deserved Nobel Prize for his work.

I have read only one of his books - the most famous one, of course: Midaq Alley. I read it as assigned reading in high school, at the American Community School of Beirut (one of the very few books I actually read while at school); and later, again as assigned reading, at the American University of Beirut. I was thoroughly taken by his words. So many aspects of Midaq Alley simply pulled me in, in a way that I couldn't get out, even if I wanted to.

Nagib Mahfouz sparks a sense of pride in me - despite the fact that I am not Egyptian. Just like Fairuz, his work transcends boundaries. At this point in the Middle East's history, I can only hope for more men and women with the courage and skill of that awesome man.

May he rest in peace.