Children of Gebelawi 

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Children of Gebelawi  
Author Naguib Mahfouz
Original title Awlad Haratina
Translator Philip Stewart 1981
Peter Theroux 1999
Country Egypt
Language Arabic
Genre(s) Novel
Publication date 1959 (translation 13 April 1981)
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 355 p. (paperback edition)
ISBN ISBN 0-435-90225-3 (paperback edition)

Children of Gebelawi, (أولاد حارتنا) is a novel by the Egyptian writer and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. It is also known by its Egyptian dialectal transliteration, Awlad Haretna, formal Arabic transliteration, Awlad Haratina and by the alternative translated transliteral Arabic title of "Children of the Alley".

Contents

Reception

It was originally published in Arabic in 1959, in serialised form, in the Cairo daily Al-Ahram. It was met with severe opposition from religious authorities, and publication in the form of a book was banned in Egypt.1

It was first printed in Lebanon in 1967. An English translation by Philip Stewart was published in 1981 and is still in print; when Stewart refused to sell his copyright, Doubleday commissioned a new version by Peter Theroux.citation needed

It was this book that earned Naguib Mahfouz condemnation from Omar Abdul-Rahman in 1989, after the Nobel Prize had revived interest in it. As a result, in 1994 – a day after the anniversary of the prize – Mahfouz was attacked and stabbed in the neck by two extremists outside his Cairo home.2 Fortunately, Mahfouz survived the accident, yet he suffered from its consequences till his last day.

Synopsis

The story recreates the history of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions, allegorised against the setting of an imaginary Cairene alley.

Gabalawi being an allegory for religion in general, the first four sections retell, in succession, the stories of: Adam (Adham أدهم) and how he was favored by Gabalawi over the latter's other sons, including Satan/Iblis (Idris إدريس); Moses (Gabal جبل); Jesus (Rifa'a رفاعة); and Muhammad (Qasim قاسم). Families of each son settle in different parts of the alley, symbolising Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The protagonist of the book's fifth section, Arafa (عرفة), who symbolises modern science and, significantly, comes after all prophets while all of their followers claiming Arafa as one of their own.

Publications

v • d • e
Works of Naguib Mahfouz

Old Egypt • Whisper of Madness • Mockery of the Fates • Rhadopis of Nubia • The Struggle of Tyba • Modern Cairo • Khan al-Khalili • Midaq Alley • The Mirage • The Beginning and The End • Cairo Trilogy • Palace Walk • Palace of Desire • Sugar Street • Children of Gebelawi • The Thief and the Dogs • Quail and Autumn • God's World • Zaabalawi • The Search • The Beggar • Adrift on the Nile • Miramar • The Pub of the Black Cat • Chitchat on the nile • A story without a beginning or an ending • The Honeymoon • Mirrors • Love under the rain • The Crime • al-Karnak • Respected Sir • The Harafish • Love above the Pyramid Plateau • The Devil Preaches • Love and the Veil • Arabian Nights and Days • Wedding Song • One hour remains • The Journey of Ibn Fattouma • Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth • The Day the Leader was Killed • Fountain and Tomb • Dreams of the Rehabilitation Period • The Seventh Heaven

References

  1. ^ Hafez, Sabry: "Introduction" to The Cairo Trilogy. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2001. pg xxxiv.
  2. ^ Hafez, op. cit., pg. xlii.

1. Children of Gebelaawi, 1997 edition (referenced above), introduction, pp. vii-xxv.