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Children of Gebelaawi

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This book is wonderful, it draws you into a racing plot and almost forces you to become emotinally attached to the characters. It is, on the surface, a history of an Alley in Cairo and its inhabitants as they relate to heroic figures that cropped up in their history. However, just under the surface it is clearly a treatise on progressive revelation, with each hero representing a Manifestation of God. As the plot unwinds the lives of the Prophets become very real to the reader, and the truth that Their Missions are best demonstrated by the lives they lead is perfectly and succinctly put across. Reference is made to the Manifestations recognised by Islam, Adam, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad and "another," corresponding to Adham, Gebel, Rifaa, Qaasim and Arafa in the book. The individual qualities of the Prophets are very clearly put across, as is their underlying similarity, and the book wisely leaves the story unconcluded but with a glimmer of hope that the cause of the Manifestation of Arafa still continues. Although I have some idea as to the true identity of Arafa, I feel it would be unwise to put my views across here because of the controversy they may cause. However, I am willing to give my views on request, and I must stress that these are my views only, and not those of the author or the Baha'i Community, of which I am a member. I can only express my gratitude to the author by demonstrating the depth to which he has touched the purpose of my existence:- "Oppression must end as night yields to day. We shall se in our Alley the death of tyranny and the dawn of miracles" - Children of Gebelaawi. "These fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the Most Great Peace shall come." - Baha'i Faith

Nobel laureate Nafuib Mahfouz, is an artist who put his life at risk by publishing this great work. Despite his position as the greatest living Arabic author, or perhaps because of it, fundamentalists have made several attempts on his life, almost succeeding in 1994.

Children of Gebelaawi, also published as Children of the Alley, tells biblical and Islamic history as a parable painting the Divine as the overlord and humanity as the generations who live in the alley just beyond the walls. The stories of characters representing Adam, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad are each told in turn, offering a fascinating portrait of each and their influence on humanity. The writing is lyrical and poetic and the story is extremely moving.

Not since, Nikos Kazantzakis's Last Temptation has anyone offered such a beautiful and thought provoking image of religion. In short, a must read.

Children of Gebelaawi is one of the greatest books of all time. Naguib Mahfouz is a writer with a profound understanding of the human condition. This book is a history of the world, an analogy of the lives of great religious figures from Moses on up, a moral history of immense proportions describing the strengths and weaknesses and foibles of humankind. Recent events in the Middle East render his balanced voice even more poignant. It is so sad, so ironic that he was attacked by fundamentalists a few years ago.

This is a must read if you are interested in Mahfouz. It's different than his other works. He presents his literative take on the great prophets of Islam. The Muslim world did not appreciate this piece and only published it in bits and pieces, never as a whole work, but reading this might help the Western world--the Infidel world--to understand more about how others might think and understand the world around them. I'm sure that there are many Islamic people who would not agree with this statement as there are many other things to read in this regard, but it's a place to start or to cover in such a reading regimen.

Children of Gebelaawi is the best book I have ever read. Unfortunately, it was banned in Egypt after the first chapter was published in a newspaper. It was then published in Beirut, Lebanon in the sixties. I know that it took Mahfouz many years to complete this great book. Therefore, after it was banned, he tried to rewrite the same idea in other flavors that could be accepted by the Egyptian government but no other novel of his can be compared to this one.