Mahfouz published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of screenplays, and five plays over a 70-year career. Possibly his most famous work,
The Cairo Trilogy, depicts the lives of three generations of different families in Cairo from
World War I until after the
1952 military coup that overthrew
King Farouk. He was a board member of the publisher ''Dar el-Ma'aref
. Many of his novels were serialized in Al-Ahram'', and his writings also appeared in his weekly column, "Point of View". Before the Nobel Prize only a few of his novels had appeared in the West.
Writing style and themes Most of Mahfouz's early works were set in
Cairo.
Abath Al-Aqdar (Mockery of the Fates) (1939),
Rhadopis (1943), and
Kifah Tibah (The Struggle of Thebes) (1944) were historical novels written as part of a larger unfulfilled 30-novel project. Inspired by
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832), Mahfouz planned to cover the entire
history of Egypt in a series of books. However, following the third volume, his interest shifted to current settings and issues, as well as the psychological impact of
social change on ordinary people. Mahfouz's
prose is characterised by the blunt expression of his ideas. His written works cover a broad range of topics, including the controversial and taboo such as
socialism, homosexuality, and God. Writing about some of these subjects was prohibited in Egypt. His non-fiction, including his journalism and essays and his writing on literature and philosophy, were published in four volumes from 2016. His 1966 novel
Tharthara Fawq Al-Nīl (
Adrift on the Nile) is one of his most popular works. It was later made into a film called
Chitchat on the Nile during the régime of
Anwar al-Sadat. The story criticizes the decadence of Egyptian society during the Nasser era. It was
banned by
Sadat to avoid provoking Egyptians who still loved former president Nasser. Copies of the
banned book were hard to find prior to the late 1990s. The
Children of Gebelawi (1959, also known as
Children of the Alley), one of Mahfouz's best known works, portrayed the patriarch Gebelaawi and his children, average Egyptians living the lives of
Cain and
Abel,
Moses,
Jesus, and
Mohammed. Gebelawi builds a mansion in an
oasis in the middle of a barren desert; his estate becomes the scene of a family feud that continues for generations. "Whenever someone is depressed, suffering or humiliated, he points to the mansion at the top of the alley at the end opening out to the desert, and says sadly, 'That is our ancestor's house, we are all his children, and we have a right to his property. Why are we starving? What have we done?'" The book was
banned throughout the Arab world except in
Lebanon until 2006 when it was first published in Egypt. The work was prohibited because of its alleged
blasphemy through the
allegorical portrayal of God and the
monotheistic Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam. In the 1960s, Mahfouz further developed the theme that humanity is moving further away from God in his
existentialist novels. In
The Thief and the Dogs (1961) he depicted the fate of a
Marxist thief who has been released from prison and plans revenge. He espoused
Egyptian nationalism in many of his works, and expressed sympathies for the post-World-War-era
Wafd Party. Shortly after, Mahfouz joined 80 other intellectuals in declaring that "no
blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer." == Assassination attempt and aftermath ==