ARABIC TRANSLATION SERIES

of the Journal of Arabic Literature

VOLUME 2

, YAHYA HAQQI

THE S,{.INT,S LAMP

ÄND OTHE,R STORIES
TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC AND INTRODUCF],T)
BY

M. M. BADAWI

â"Þ,-
<.')i4,4"oq>-
?oW{1.t

LEIDEN
E. J. BRrLL
r971
t.,

I
 CHAPTER ONE

THE SAINT'S LAMP

As a boy rny grandfather Sheikh Rajab Abdulla used to corne

to Cairo with the farnily in order to visit the Mosque of
al-Sayyida Zaynab and seek her blessings. As soon as they
reached the rnarble doorstep of the lnosque, his father would
push hirn down on his knees and, like the rest of the company,
the boy would cover it with kisses. However, the instinct of
imitation being what it is, he hardly needed to be pushed. While
he was thus kissing the stone the people going in and out of the
nìosque nearly trod on this head. If one ol the pedantic
theologians happened to see him and his farnily he would turn
his face away from thern in disgust, condernning the evil tirnes
and invoking the aid of God against such idolatry, heresy and
ignorance. The rnajority of the people, however, used to smile
benignly at the naiveté of such peasants with their clothes
srnelling of earth, rnilk and fenugreek. They could understand
how rnuch these sirnple peasants had been looking forwarcl to
this visit, and tl.rat they could find no other way to express the
warrnth of their feelings of adoration and love for the Saint.
After all it. is the intention that rnatters. When he was a young
rnan nìy grandfather rnoved to Cairo in search of work. It was
not surprising that he wanted to live as near to his cherished
lnosque as possible. He therefore settled in an old religious Trust
house facing the rear ablution place of the mosque in a lane that
used to be called the Ablutions Lane. I say 'used to' since the
destructive axe of the town-planning department demolished it
togethçr with other old landrnarks of Cairo. However, the spirit
of the old Square escaped unscathed, for the axe could destroy
only things rnade of bricks and stone.
Later rny grandfather set up a grain shop in the Square' Thus
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

our farÌìiìy lived within the precincts of the Saint's urosque ancl
under her protection. The Saint's feasts and calendar becaure
ours and tl-re calls of the Muezzin our only clock.
Through the blessings of Umrn Hashimr rny grandfather's
business flourished. No sooner had his eldest son finishecl his
studies at the Kuttab than he took hirn on to help hirn in the
shop. His second son, however, entered Al-Azhar but after a
nurnber of unsuccessful years in the university he returned to the
village where he worked as its only schoohnaster and rnarriage
clerk. There rernained his youngest son, the baby of the farnily,
my uncle Isrnail, for whorn fate (and the increase in his father's
incorne) held a brighter future in store. At first when his father
lnade him learn the Koran by heart he was a little afraid lest he
should send hirn to Al-Azhar; he used to see the children in the
square shout after the turbaned university youth the rude
doggerel:
Pull the turban, pull the turban,
Under the turban sits an ape.
But Sheikh Rajab, with a heart brimful of hope sent Ismail to
a governrnent school whsrç. his religioqs upbringing qnd his
pe-asant origin were a great asset to hirn. The boy soon dis-
tinguished hirnself by his good manners' his even telnper and his
great respect for his teachers, and his rnodesty and per-
severance. Though he was not smartly dressed, his clothes were
always clean. Above all, he was lnore rnanly and better spoken
than his school-fellows, the parnpered children of the Effendis
who were ignorant of their language and unable to express
themselves in decent Arabic. He soon outshone his fellows and
there was no doubt that he was very bright. In short, he becarne
the centre of his family's hopes.
While still a boy his farnily called hirn Isrnail Effendi and
I Umm Hashiur or Zaynab was the granddaughter of the Prophet
Muhamrnad. (Translator).

2
 THE SAINT,S LAMP

rreated hirn like a grown up. He was given the choicest dishes
and fruit.
Whenever he sat down to study his lessons, his father's voice,
while he was reciting his prayers, turned into a tremulous
whisper of devotion, his rnother walked on tiptoe and even his
orphan cousin, Fatirna al Nabawiyya, learnt to stop her chatter
and sit silently before him like a slave before her rnaster. She
developed the habit of sitting up with hirn late at night while he
was working on his lessons as if these were her own, looking
at hirn with her sick, bloodshot eyes while her fingers were
continuously busy with her needlework. There was no one to
draw Isrnail's attention to the strange life that had stealthily
crept into her hands, to the alertness, sensitivity and the knowing
touch wl.rich tl-rey had secretly acquired. There was no one to ,
rnake hin-r realize that the ability to see with onek hands is a
i

proof of approaching blindness.

'You rnust go to bed now, Fatirna.'
'lt's too early yet. I'nr not sleepy.'
Every now and then her eye would water and his image
becorne blurred when she looked at hirn; she would then wipe her
eye with the end of her sleeve and resulne gazing. at hirn.
Whenever he opened his rnouth, she found wisdom in his words.
Great God! she thought, is it possible that books can contain
all those secrets and riddles? And is it possible that one can learn
to talk the language of other peoples? As he grew in stature in
her eyes she fell in his estirnation. His eyes rnight fall on her two
plaits and then he would pause and srnile, thinking: if only those
girls knew how ernpty headed they were!
Only when Isrnail went to bed would the whole family feel
that their clay was over and begin thinking about his needs for
the rnorrow. The life of the whole farnily, their every movement,
was airned at providing for his cornfort;a-whalc-g.aneæt-ip-n,w¿S
wasting itself so that one single indiyidual might have the chance

ó
 THF, SAINT'S LAMP

to develop. Here was a love as strong as an animal instinct. The

anxious hen sits on her eggs, with a cautious, furtive look in her
eyes, rnotionless and obsequious as a praying nun. Is this a sign
of excessive love and nobleness, or is it sirnply a tribute offered
to the all-powerful tyrant, whose will is of iron and whose fetters
rest upon every livir.rg thing? The attachn-rent of this lamily to
their son was clevoicl of all freedom and volition. What beauty
could there be in it? Only rny heart has the answer to this
cluestior.ì. Many a tirne have I recalled those clistant days and
founcl my heart Ï¡eating faster as the image of rny grandfatl.rer
Sheikh Rajab appeared to rne, his face surrounded by a halo of
bright light. As for my granclurother, Adila, with her sirnplicity
ancl gooclness, it would be al¡surd to call her human at all. Il she
were hutnan, what then would the angels be like? The worlcl
would be a hateful and monstrous place without such resignation
ancl faith as hers.

II
Year alter year Isrnail carÌìe out at tlÌe top of his class.
\¡Vhenever the results of the exarnination were announced, glasses
of sherbet would be passed round the neighbours, and his farnily
woulcl even stop a casual passer-by to offer hirn solne. The
wornan selling bean cakes and puddings in the street would yodel
with sheer pleasure, praising the workings of God's will and
Master Hassan, who was both the barber and doctor of the
district, would receive the prornised gratuity. Grandrnother Adila
burned incense, fulfilling her vow to Umrn Hashirn. Loaves of
bread would be counted and filled with boiled beans and stacked
in the wicker basket which Urnm Muharnrnad carried on her
head. As soon as she arrived in the square the loaves would
disap¡rear and her ntilaya2 would be torn frorn her. She would
2 Wra¡r traditionally wom by Egyptian wolnen, from classical Arabic nula'a
(Translator).

4
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

then bashfully rnake her way homewards, -s1gmbtlng o-ver þer

long dress, both.angry and amused at the greed of the beggars
pJ-41-Qeyyi¿a. Her misadventure, however, would be the joke of
the farnily for rnany days afterwards.
Thus, protected by God and Urnm Hashim, Ismail grew up, his
wl'role life encolnpassed by the district and the square. His
greatest pleasure was to stroll by the river, or stand on the
bridge. At nightfall, when the heat of the sun had gone and the
sl'rarply-etched lines and reflected light changed to curves and
vague shadows, the square came into its own, ridding itself of
strangers and visitors. If you were blessed with a clear conscience
and listened carefully you would detect in it a deep and secret
breathing. Could it be, perhaps Saint al-Atris, the rnosque porter'
one of the selants of Urnm Hashim, sitting in his quarters and
beginning to breathe rnore freely after the day's work? If you
were fortunate enough to hear this sonorous breathing, you
rnight have raised your eyes to the dome of the mosque and seen
it diffused with an irridescent light growing now dim and now
bright, like a wick played with by the wind. It is the Saint's oil
larnp, the larnp of Urnm Hashim, hanging above her shrine. No
stone walls can contain its light.
Gradually the square fills anew with people' weary figures,
pale of face and bleary-eyed. They are dressed in what clothes
they can afford, or if you prefer it, in whatever they have been
able to lay their hands on. There is a note of sadness in the cries
of tl-re street-hawkers. . .

'How splendid are my beans!'

'Eat your sweet-rneat and bless the Prophet!'
p.. 'Radishes, delicious as cooked beans!'
'Use tooth-picks as prescribed by Allah's Prophet!'
What hidden tyranny have they suffered from and what heavy
load weighs upon their hearts? And yet their faces express a kind
of content and acceptance of things. How easily these people
,5
 THE SAINT'S I,AMP

forget! There are so lnany hands to receive so few piasters ancl

n-rilliernes. Here there are rìo laws, or corìtrollecl prices, or fixecl
weights or rneasures; there is only convention and the clispensing
of favours ancl bargaining. You n.right get rnore than your clue
weight or lueasure, or the scales rnight be tiltecl and the weights
falsified. No one really seems to rnind rnuch. Rows of people sit
on the ground leaning against the wall ol the Ìnosque; sorne of
theln lie asleep on the pavelnent, a rnixed crowd of men, wolnen
and children. No one knows where they came fron.r or where they
will go. They are like fruit dropping frorn rhe rree of lile to ror
and wither away beneath its boughs.
Here you rnight have seen the school of beggars. One of therr,
bent down by the weight of the bag of pieces of bread on his
back, crying still: 'only one piece of bread for a hungry
rnan,-for the love of God, you good people!'Or the young I

woman who would suddenly appear in the rniddle of the lane, I

naked or half-naked, and cry out: 'May God never let scandal
'

touch your wornenfolk-you Muslirns, who clothe u poo.l

worlan!' Her loud cry would draw faces to tl.re windows ancl her
tnagnetic eyes attract the women, who would irnrnediately
shower her with piles of old and tattered clothes. In a second she
would rnelt away, and nobody knew whether she had taken llight
or the ground l.rad opened and she had disappeared beneatl'r it.
There was also the blind condirnent seller who would never sell
to you unless you greeted hirn first and he would then recite for
you the religious formula of buying and selling.
At nighfall the pot-bellied seller of pickles would take leave of
his barrels, the turner's feet leave his lathe and his labour and
carry him homewards. Here the streetcar still seemed like a
carnivorous beast that exacted its daily toll of innocent lives.
Evening draws on. A breeze quickens into life and frorn the
cafés you hear first low laughter and then the rough guffaws of
the hashish-smokers. If, on crossing the square, you turned into
Marasinah Street, you would hear the noise of drunkards in

6
 TI]E SAINT'S I.AMP

Anastasi's Bar, wl'rich the local inhabitants called by anotller

nanre, a pun suggesting the kind of good time which it provided.
Frorn it a drunken riran r.night ernerge, staggering and accosting
tl.re passers by menacingly saying: 'Which of you dares call
hilnself the toughest rnan here?' His taunts would be met with
differing responses varying frorn the invoking of curses on his
head to the plea to leave the poor devil alone and to the pious
prayer that God rnight cure hirn of the vicious habit.
Some sort of pleasure or rnerrirnent now began to stir the sad,
tired ligures of the square. There was no care in the world, and
the future was ir.r the hands of God. Faces carne close together
in aflection ancl the heart forgot its troubles. Conìe what lnay,
a rnan would sper.rd his last penny on the hubble-bubble or on
playing cards. The clatter of weighing was fading, the hand-carts
were disappearing ancl the candles were being blown out inside
the food-stalls as Isn-rail left the square. He knew every nook and
corner ol it and was never surprised by an unfarniliar street cry
or wondered where it carne frorn. He lost hirnself naturally in the
crowd like a raindrop in the waters of the ocean. He was so
accustorned to the recurring sights and sounds of the square that
they rnet witl.r no response within hirn. They aroused neither
curiosity nor boredorn in l.rirn. He was neither pleased nor angry,
for he was not sufficiently detached from them to be aware of
thern. Yet who would say that all these sounds and sights which
il
he heard and saw, without realizing their rneaning, could have
this strange power of rnoving stealthily into the depths of his
heart, and bit by bit becorning an integral part of hiln? For the
rnolnent, as was only normal, he looked at everything. His only
purpose was to look.

III
With the approach of adolescence Isrnail felt his body
throbbing with a cornpulsion of its own. He became the prey of

7
 THE SAIN'|'S LAMP

relentless contending forces pulling in opposite directions. He

shunned the cornpany of other people ancl yet his loneliness
nearly drove hirn mad. He began to find a strarìge pleasure in
sneaking into the rnidst of the crowd of women who lrequented
the rnosque, especially on visiting days. Whilst in this throng he
felt that clothes were no lnore than barriers separating naked
bodies, which he felt whenever the wolnen slightly brushecì
against l-rirn. Surrounded by these bodies he experienced the
pleasure of sonreone bathing in a llowing strearn, not caring
whetl.rer the water was clean or not. The srnell of sweat and
perfunÌe did not offend hirn; he sniffed it like a dog following
a scent. On visiting days there were invariably one or two
prostitutes, for Saint al-Atris had been cornmanded never to stop
anybody frorn entering. They came either to light a candle or to
fulfil a vow, in the hope that God rnight turn towards thern in
pity and change the fate that was in store for thern. Previously
Isrnail used to see thern without taking any notice, but now he
found hirnself following them, unable to take his eyes off thern.
His attention was particularly drawn to a girl who catne
regularly on every visiting day. She was called Naima, with a
swarthy complexion, curly hair and finely chiselled lips. She was
distinguished frorn the others by her silence and her slirn figure.
The others, without exception, had an abandoned, careless way
of walking, while she walked purposefully as if mistress of her
soul and body. Her arrns fell straight against her sides with the
j, hollow of the elbow facing you. If you look closely you will see
I that no prostitute walks with her arms straight at her side; it
seerns as if their arrns are always bent as a sign of their fall. They
i thernselves, however, seem to think that the bent arm is the secret
'i of seductiveness.
I
Ismail would srnile when he saw Sheikh Dardiri, the Mosque
attendant, in their midst like a cock among his hens. He knew
I
each one of thern and would often enquire after the absentees.
He would take a candle from the one and clear the way to the

o
()

I
 THE SAINT,S I-AMP

collection box for anotlìer. They would often arouse his sudden
displeasure, with the result that he would reprirnand thern and
pusl.r thern outside. Sheikh Dardiri would also receive men and
wornen who catne to ask hirn for a drop of the oil frorn Urnm ¡
Hashitn's larnp to treat their eyes or the eyes of sorne loved one. I

The consecrated oil would cure only those whose perception

shone briglrt wirh the light of faith. No sight was restored to
those who lacked this perception. If,the patient was not cured it
was not because the oil was ineffective, but because the Saint had
not yei chosen to bestow upon hirn her grace. He was, perhaps,
lJeing punished for l.ris sins, or rnaybe he had not yet cleansed
hilnself of evil and defilement. He would, therefore, have to wait
patiently and continue to visit the Saint. If patience is deemed
essential in the struggle of this life, it is also considered to be the
only rneans of entering the next.
To Sheikh Dardiri this oil meant a handsome source of incorne

""ã;;;
;; ,[", ., Ç rt","g upf.u..d ufon hirn. His i¡tttry
gown ancl his grey turban remained always the same. What then
did he clo with his rnoney? Did he hoard it under the floor? His
colleagues clairned that he spent it all on hashish srnoking,
pointing to his ceaseless coughing and his propensity for
cracking jokes. But the truth was that Sheikh Dardiri was given
to polygarny. Hardly a year passed without his rnarrying a fresh
virgin. Isrnail calne to know hirn in the course of his frequent
visits to the rnosque. He was in the habit of calling on him after
the evening prayers and he found him entertaining to listen to.
The Sheikh took a liking to the boy and treated hirn affec-
tionately. It was because of his love for him that one evening
he revealed to Ismail a secret he had never divulged before:
'Do you know, Isrnail Effendi, that on the night of "the
visitation" Saint Husayn colnes accompanied by hnarn al-Shafi'i,
and Imarn al-Layth and they wait on Saint Fatima, the Prophet's
daughter, Saint Aisha and Saint Sakina. They all arrive on
horseback with green banners flying over their heads and the

9
 TH[1 SAINT,S LAMP

perfunìe ol roses arìcl lìlusk arises fronì the cufls of their sleeves.
Tlrey ther.r seat themselves orì the rigl.rt ar.rd lelt of Saint Zaynalt
ancl holcl court to look into the cornplaints ol the peo¡rle. They
could, if they wishecl, remove injustice altogether lrom earth, but
tl-re time is r-rot yet ripe for that, since tl-rere is no one treatecl
unjustly who has lìot hinlself been unjust to others. So how can
they seek retaliation for him? On that rright a blinding light
shines lrom that little lamp which you can see hanging above the
shrine over tlìere, now so diln that you can hardly see its light.
At such times I canrìot bear to lift rny eyes to look at it. On that
nigl.rt its oil ¡rossesses the secret ol curing diseases. That is why
I only give it to those poor wretches wholn I know to be
cleselviug.'
While the Slteikh was telling hirn this, Isn.rail was only half
listening, for he was thinkirrg of the dark girl with the delicate
nrouth. He only l;ecame attentive when the Sheikh pointed at the
lanrp. There it was like a drowsy peaceful eye that saw and
unclerstood and settlecl everything. It bestowed its faint light on
the Saint's shrine, lit up like the face of a rnother, feecling a baby
about to sleep in her arrns. The flickering of the wick was like
the beating of her heart, tenderly throbbing with love, or like the
pauses in her whis¡rered adoration. As lor the cl.rain frorn which
the larnp was suspended it did not seern to exist. Any other light
seems to struggle to assert itself against tl.re darkness which seeks
to swallow it, but tl.re light of this larnp seemed to shine without
effort or struggle. Here was neither east nor west, neither day nor
night, neither yesterday nor tornorrow.
Ismail shivered, not knowing what had touched his heart.

IV
It was cluring the period of adolescence that Isrnail had to sit
for his matriculation. He was doubtful about the result and
feared tl'rat he had failed. However, when the results were out, he

l0
 THE SAINT,S LAMP

louncl l-re had passed' but unfortunately his narle was at the
ltottotn ol the Pass list.
He, as well as the wl'role of his farnily, had hoped he would be
able to erìter the Faculty of Medicine, but now that he had done
so baclly in the exarnination he found the doors of the Faculty
closecl to him. There were only two alternatives for him, both
eclually hateful: either to enter the Teachers'Training College or
else to study the rnatriculation syllabus again to have another go
at the sarne exalnination, thus wasting a whole year of his life.
Ismail's father, Sheikh Rajab, was no less worried and anxious
than his son. Some of his acquaitttances l.rad expected that the
Sheikh would be satisfiecl with the amount of education his son
had so far received, ancl would therefore try to get him some
kind of governlnent post, at least to relieve hirn of the necessity
of helping hirn and to lighten his burden. But little did they know
_hgy¡ d-çte,fllined he wal to push his son to thç front
rankl Being
at a loss he went around asking for advice. .I.t !s- no*t kno-wn. lgho
it was who suggested to hiry thl \_e- shou]d sen{ his son abroad
to continue his studies in Europe. On being told this, the Sheikh
spent a sleepless night tossing in his bed.
fle knew that this solution to the problem would cost hiln
frorn ten to fifteen pounds a tnonth, not including the initial
expenses of travel and special clothing for the çold çlimate of the
North. He also wondered if he could bear parting with his son,
and whether his rnother would agree to this or let her maternal
love stand in the way of her son's future.-Besides, could he really
aJford to give hi¡n this large sum of money regularly every
rnonth?J-v-.e.n if he could, he thought, this would mean that the
Jçst of the farnily would have to live in abject poverty and
deprivation. And for how long? For six or seven years, and there
.are ups and downs in life: Fortune is fickle and might turn
against hirn. Frorn the announcement of evening prayers to that
of the dawn prayers ol the following day he did not sleep a
wink; but during the sl'rort nap he had afterwards he heard a soft

ll
 THL, SAIN-IJS I-AMP

voice aclvising him to trust in God and go lorward with His

l¡lessirrgs.
When he awoke, he hacl made up his mind. The mother
realizecl that sl.re hacl to part with her son, so she accepted the
fact in silence altl'rough she never stopped crying. It was now
deciclecl that Isrnail shoulcl go abroad. Tl're worcl 'a̡roacl' had a
secret and magic sound, whicl"r like a strange ancl untrusted spirit,
crept stealthily into this house, where the Koran was always
recited and where Moslen-r law was both truth and science. This
strange spirit rnade for a srnall corner in the house and, covering
its l.read, composed its lirnbs and victoriously fell into a souncl
and tranquil sleep. The father pronounced the word'abroad'as
if it were a favour offered by an infidel, which he had to accept
without hurniliation, but with the intention ol armir.rg hirnself
with the salne weapon as the infidel. As for the rnother, frorr-r
that rnornent, sl.re began to feel the terror of the ocean ancl to
shiver at the thought of the cold. She imagined the stranse lands
of 'abroad' to be like the top of a high flight of steps leacling to
a land covered witl'r snow and inhabited by people who possessecl
the cunning and tricks of the devil. Fatirna al-Na̡awiyya was
also frightened, having heard that in Europe wolnen went about
serni-naked and all excelled in subtlety and charrn. If Ismail went
there, she thought, she did not know what he would be like when
he came back, that is, if he ever did corne back.
The father raised all the rnoney he could, and the rnother soldr
all.her jewelry. With the proceeds the tickets were bought as well r

q¡ the thick clothing which would be a protection against the

cold of Europe.
As the date of departure drew near, the farnily assernbled,
gloomy and silent and with tearful eyes, their hearts beating
faster.
' "My advice to you," said the father, "is to live abroad as you
have lived here, observing strictly your religion. Once you
becotne careless, vou can never tell where this rnay lead you. We

l2
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

will
s
all want you, my son, to come back successful so that you
not bring shame upon our heads. You know that I am getting old
r and that I have rnade you the centre of all our hopes. Beware of
nor
European wolnen: they are not for people like yourself,
rl are
u
you for their like'"
a After a short pause he resumed: "You must know that your
t, rnother and I have agreed that Fatima al-Nabawiyya should
wait
s for you. She deserves you most and you her' She is your cousin
and lìas nobody else but you. If you like we could go through
rs the
ú
5 H
cerernony of your engagement to-day so that you may
fare well
d fi journeY."
Ir on your
s
I' Isrnail could not but assent. He put his hand in his father's and
rt
lr
recited the opening Sura of the Koran, whilst his mother wept
f lr and his fiancée did not know whether to laugh or to cry'
n Isrnail had known all along that this engagement was bound
o to happen sooner or later, but he did not expect it that evening'
He had grown up with Fatima al-Nabawiyya like brother and
I

s
o fi
sister, and he hardly ever looked at her in the way he looked at
d I the dark girl in the mosque.
s fl To please his father he recited the Sura, but distractedly, and
rt ir

lr
to the voice of his heart telling him to keep his promise he found
t hirnself replying: "Why should I? Why should I?" However, he
did not really understand the implication of what was happen-
i
n Ir
I
li ing, for up to that tirne he had been chaste and had not
d" \i lì approached a woman. Indeed, he would be lying if he denied
that he was hungry for this dark girl, for all women, and lastly
Ì:
Ll
lr
¡
.e
i, ti
and especially for the women of Europe. But Ismail never told
I i lies.
t,
c V
u Isrnail went to bid farewell to a few friends' He then walked
u to the Square just before sunset, his ears taking in all they could
e of the cries of the street-hawkers. It seemed to him that there was

r3
i
I
il THE SAINT'S LAMP
L

ir
i
an unusual arÌìount of l¡ovement in the Square, as if tl-re people
were suddenly walking faster. He wondered why each went his
own way without turning aside, as if life was sirnply a race. He
wished that one of the bustling throng would stop and talk to
hirn, but nobody paid hirn any attention. In the Square people
rnoved about like ants in lines that ran parallel or crossed
thernselves in every conceivable direction. His feet led him to the
shri'e in the rnosque, which he found unusually quiet. Sheikh
Dardiri was standing there with head bent, as if exhaustecl or
completely overcolne. Isrnail walked round the shrine until he
calne to the barrier separating the rnen frorn the wornen, and
there he noticed a figure standing. It was tl.re dark girl, her
forehead agai'st the railings of the tornb. Ismail stood rooted to
the spot as he listened to her whispered prayer:
"Oh LJrnrn Hashirn, protectress of helpless wornen! Do not
avert your eyes frorn me and do not avert your face. Here am
I, crying for your mercy and with rny hand uplifted to you in
supplication. Please take it! God has purified and protectecl you
and given you a place in Heaven, and your heart is kind. Il the
sick and the downcast and the broken clid not seek you, who else
shoulcl they seek? If others have forgotten us, please re'rernber
us! Wherr will rny fate be changed? Does it please you that rny
body is not nìy own, that I do not even feel its pain? Here is rny
soul in agony, writhing in abasernent on your steps, wishing to
be released. Since God's grace has forsaken me, it has been
living in a nightrnare, like someone hovering between life and
death. I have accepted God's will and entrusted rnyself to Him.
I arn sure I shall not be lost, as long as you are with rne. But will
it be far-off or is God's mercy near at hand? I have vowed that
the day God turns to me in forgiveness, I shall decorate your
Holy Shrine with fifty candles, Oh Urnrn Hashirn, sister of
al-Husayn!"
The girl then pressed on the railing of the shrine a kiss that
carne straight frorn the heart, so different frorn the kisses of her

t4
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

trade. Who could be so presurnptuous as to say that Urnrn

Hashirn was not there on the other side of the railing, with her
lips reacly to receive such a kiss?
Isrnail wanted to follow the girl outside the mosque and to
talk to her, but his feet remained fixed. He wanted to unburden
his heart to her. He was neryous and full of grief, dreading being
torn froln his farnily and country and having to face loneliness,
exile and the unknown. Why did his heart beat faster when he
saw her of all wornen? Or was he irnagining things? No. There
was a voice hidden in his heart which wished to speak aloud and
lead hirn to the secret. But a thousand things rnuffled it and kept
it inaudible. It rnay be that the girl did not see hirn or was even
aware of his presence. In an attelnpt to escape frorn this state of
confusion he sought the company of Sheikh Dardiri whose
i prattling he found cornforting. The image of this man standing
by the silent shrine under the light of the oil larnp, his hand
resting on the railing or wiping his face, was his last rnernory
of Cairo before leaving. All that happened to him afterwards
swept hirn off his feet like a powerful and violent current. He
gave hirnself up to it. Everything seemed to hirn turned upside
down, he lost all sense of the sequence of events: visual objects
fi were distorted in his eyes and sounds seemed confused and
unreal. At horne there was the leave-taking with his fami-
fìr
ly-How awful that was!-arnidst the crying and wailing of the
wor¡en. Then there was the railway station, the train, the port
and its bustle and the strange boat with its siren. I can imagine
hirn clirnbing up the gangway, a young man with the gravity of
age, slow-moving and slightly corpulent, yet with a guileless and
innocent air. Bverything about him suggested that he was a
peasant, lonely and ill at ease in the town. My uncle Ismail swore
to me later that alnong the luggage he carried was a pair of
wooden clogs, which his father had insisted he should take with
hirn since he had heard that ritual ablution was difficult in
Europe because of the practice of wearing shoes indoors. He also

15
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

gave me, with a srnile, a cletailecl description of his long peasant

underpants, theil' size and tl"reir cords whiclì were lnade in
Mahallah. He also had with hirn a basket full of peasant cakes
ancl biscuits, which his rnother and Fatirna al-
Nabawiyya hacl baked for hirn to take witl.r hirn. At last the boat
sa i lecl.

VI
Seven years later the boat brought hirn back.
Who was that sn'rart tall young rnan with a bright lace and
his heacl helcl high, literally jumping down the gangway? It
was Ismail hinrself, or I beg his pardon, Dr. Isrnail, the eye
s¡recialist, to whose distinctior.r, skill and remarkable abilities the
univelsities of England testified. His English prolessor usecl to
tell him jokingly: "I bet you anytlìing that the spirit of a
Phalaor.ric doctor-priest has been revived in you, Mr. Isrnail.
Your cotrntry has great r-reecl of you, for it is the land ol tl-re
blincl."
His prolessor louncl ir.r hirn the knowledge ol an inspired rnan
ancl tl're clear vision, which is the fruit of rnany generations, as
well as the clexterous Êingers of a descendant of those who
carvecl lile out of l.rarcl stone.
Hurry up and colne to us, Isrnail, for we are longing to see you.
We l.rave lìot seen you for seven long years wl.rich to us were like
centuries. Your regular letters, which, however, became more and
more infrequent, were not suflicient to quench the fire of our
longing for you. Corne to us like rain and good health and take
your place in your farnily. You will lind it like a rnachine that
l.ras stopped and even rusted because its lnotor has been rernoved.
If only you knew how lnuch this farnily has done for your sake!
On the eve ol l.ris arrival, Isrnail had hardly slept at all. At
dawn he jurnped out of his berth and ran up onto the deck so
tl.rat l.re rnight not rniss the first glirnpse of the coast of

l6
 THE SAINT'S I-AMP

nt Alexar.rclria. He could see nothing yet on the horizon, and yet he

in s¡relt sonretl'ring unusual in the breeze. The first sign of life frorn
es l"ris hon-relancl he met was a creature whose horneland is the entire
rl- u¡iverse, a lonely white bird that hovered above round the ship,
at spotlessly clean, lree and lofty. Why do boats deliberately slow
clown on arrival, he wondered irnpatiently; and yet how fast the
ltoat tl'rat took hiru away departed. She was now taking her time,
proucl to arrive,t.tot caring lor the feelings of the passengers.
Ismail hacl not told his people the date of his arrival to save
his aged father the trouble of rnaking a special journey to
rd Alexanclria to lÌreet hirn. He had decided to wire to tlìeln the tilne
It of his arrival by train in Cairo. He could now see the lighthouse
ye and tl're yellow coast whicl.r was almost on the sarne level as the
he sea. You, Egypt, are like the pahn of a hand open to the sea and
to proud ol being thus open. There are no treacherous reefs outside
a you nor lnountain ranges on your coast to ward off strangers.
ril. You are an abode in which everything suggests peace. .. Here
he was the first fishing boat he could detect; there was an elderly
rnan in it witlì a grey beard and bent back, seated like a rnonkey
an in the prow, fishing. His blue garrnent, or rather his garrnent
as wl-rich was once blue, was tattered and patched. Ismail's eyes fell
ho on an Egyptian wornan standing beside hirn and whispering to
I'rerself as she was looking at the fisherrnan with tearful eyes:
)u. "Egyp,, Egypt!"
ke How could she expect the fisherman to notice her? He was not
nd even aware of the whole ship. 'lhere were so many like her,
rur corning and going and nearly colliding with his little boat. His
ke closed rnind, however, was proof against them: it followed the
tàt very sarne pattern day in day out. Ismail was on the point of
od. shouting to hirn and greeting him, or waving to hirn with his
<e! handkerchief. Strange how logic is cornpletely overthréwn in
At mornents of deep ernotion and love! A bell rang announcing the
so death of the ship, and its corpse became prey to an arlny of
of human ants: soldiers and officers, our brothers the occupiers,

r7
 THE SAIN'|,S LAMI'

tl'rougl.r mixecl amongst the rest ancl wearir.rg tarl)ouches like the
others, porters, lììolley chattgers ancl visitors. Then the crowcl
pushecl ancl mingled together with loucl shouts ancl t'uuch kissing
ancl embracins. In the miclst of this floocl ol lleople Isnrail
remainecl cot-tr¡rosed, his senses aviclly clrinking il'r everytl'ring,
while on his lips appeared a sweet smile ol conteuttneut. His
keen ear clistinguisl'red all sour.rds ancl his lively eye watìtecl to see
and uuderstand everything. Hacl you lookecl closely at Ilim, you
woulcl I'rave noticed that his lace hacl lost its rouudness ancl his
cheeks had grown a little hollow. His flabby lips, that harclly
closed belore, were now corlìpressed with cleterminatiotr ancl
self-conficlence. He hacl lteen through the custotns and was now
installed in a horse carriage listening to the sound of its wheels
on the cobblestones of tl.re roacl, remindir.rg l.rim of the day ol his
de¡rarture. It seemecl to belong to a very distant past, as if it were
a clream. . . How could the nìelnory of tl"rat day still survive in his
mind after seven years' stay in Englancl wliich had turned his life
u¡rsicle down? He had lost his chastity and taken to drir.rking and
I dancing. Tl'ris degeneration was parallelled by an irnprovelnent
l

ii
in his character no less iuteresting and novel. He learnt how to
appreciate tl-re beauty ol nature, lìow to enjoy sunsets, as if tÌrere
were rìo less glorious sunsets in his country, and how to derive
pleasure Êrom the nipping cold of the north.
His friendship with his fellow siudent Mary, to say nothing of
other events ol his life during those seven years, would alone
have been sufiicient to urake l'rirn forget his past. Mary was
inlatuated with this clark young man frotn the east, and she
bestowed her aflection and attention on hitn. In giving herself to
him, sl're put au end to his cl.rastity. Through her his laziness and
clullness were replaced by activity and self-confidence' She
o¡rened up new horizons of beauty before his eyes: she awakened
in him the love of art and beauty in tnusic, in nature and in the
hunan spirit. He once said to her: "I shall only rest when I have
laicl clown a plan for my life which I can follow'" To which she

IB
 THE SAINT'S I,AMP

he replied: "My dear Isrnail, life is not a fixed plan, but an

vd everchanging series of pros and cons."
rìg Wl.renever he suggested that they should sit down if they were
ail out for a walk, she would insist that they should keep on walking.
l8' While he would discuss marriage with her she would rather talk
Iis about love, about the present moment instead of the future. In
iee the past he always looked for sornething outside hirnself to lean
ou against, sotnething like religion and tradition, a peg on which to
ris har"rg his precious coat. But she used to tell hirn that whoever
llv resorted to a peg, would rernain all his life a slave to that peg,
nd sitting next to it to keep an eye on his coat. She insisted that
lw one's peg should be inside oneself. What she feared lnost was
els fetters, while he was lnost afraid of freedom. In the beginning he
["ri s was bewildered that she could give herself to him, while she used
)re to laugh ironically at his bewilderment. He used to be suspicious
his of new acquaintances, always weighing the possibilities of their
ife sincerity and worried about what they thought of hirn. He had
nd no difficulty whatever in being outwardly civil to those who did
lnt not want rnore than just politeness. His relationship with people
to was a kind of collision between personalities from which one
ere ernerged either triurnphant or crest-fallen. She, on the contrary,
ive liked all people and yet she was not equally interested in them
all. She was satisfied with rneeting people and left the question
of of friendship to the future. She would then ruthlessly cut dead
)ne the weak, the unpleasant, the pretentious, the vicious, the
r'as rnelancholy and the insincere, and having done that she only
she encouraged those whose company she really enjoyed.
to Mary noticed that Ismail used to give rnore of his time and
.nd affection to the weak among his patients, those who were lnen-
ihe tally disturbed and whose neryes were ruined by the effort of
red living (and in Burope their number is legion). He used to sit and
the listen to their complaints silently, and thought that it would be
tve exceedingly kind to try to talk to them on their level. Once when
she she saw him surrounded by the sick ând defeated, who were

l9
 T'HF, SAINT,S I-AMP

pressir.rg ir.r upon l.riln and clutching at hiur, each wantitrg him to
hirnself, she went up to Isrnail and rudely shook I'riur, saying:
"You are not Jesus Christ! He who aspires to live like an angel
er.rcls by being overpowered by the beast. Don't you know that
cl.rarity begins at horne? These people are drowning and they are
looking for solneone to extend to thetrr a hancl. But once they
lind him they pull hirn clown with thern to the bottom ol the sea.
Those oriental feelings of yours are l¡acl aud undesirable because
they are unpractical and fruitless. If divested of use their
weakness becomes only too apparent. Strong feelings are only
those that one does not show to others."
Isrnail's soul used to wince at her sharp words ancl groan
under her attacks. He lelt her words like a knile lopping off vital
parts of his body which related hirn to others. One day he woke
up to find his soul cornpletely in ruins. Religion appeared to hirn
to be only a superstition invented to rule the masses, and the
hurnan soul to be unable to find its strengtlì and hence its
happiness except by detaching itself frorn the crowd and facing
it as a separate being. To be one of the crowd becarne in his
opinion a curse and a weakness.
His nerves could not stand tl.re shock of finding hirnself alone,
clrowning and cornpletely lost without any bearings. He becalne
ill and stoppecl attencling college. He fell a prey to anxiety and
uncertainty, and there was souretitnes a look of terror in his eyes'
It was Mary who saved hirn. She took hirn on a holiday to the
Scottish countryside. During the day they cycled or walked in the
fields or went fishing, and at night they tasted love's tlany
pleasures. Luckily for him he rnanaged to pass through that crisis
which many of l.ris young countrymen experience in Europe, and
ernerged frorn it witl.r a new self, confident and secure' His lost
i religious faitl.r was replaced I'ty u ,stronger faith in science'
Instead of thinking of the beauty and bliss of Heaven he now
thougl.rt of the beauty of nature and its secrets. Perhaps the
greatest proof of his recovery was that he now began to shake

20
 .tHe sArNT's LAN4P

to off Mary's dornination. He ceased to behave like a pupil towards

b' his rnaster, but treated her on equal footing. He was not
el surprised, nor unduly pained, when he saw her turn from him to
at another fellow student, one of her own race and colour. Like all
re artists she was bored with her work once it was finished. When
ey Isrnail had recovered he lost his fascination for her and became
aa. like the other men she knew. She was now free to try her new
ISe friend. Isrnail, however, could not bear to leave England without
eir seeing her for the last time. At his invitation she came. He did
tly not ask hirnself if her new friend knew of her visit to him. Once
rnore she gave herself to him since she did not attach great
an irnportance to sexual relations. To her an embrace was merely a
tal way of saying goodbye. She said to him, as she was leaving with
ke her bicycle: "I hope I'll see you one day in Bgypt. Who knows?
irn We rnigl-rt meet there. I won't say good-bye then. Till we meet
.he i
again!"
its He wondered about modern women and their ability to meet
l

ng F
lr
new situations with a calm assurance. For them the tree of life
his is laden with all kinds of fruit. They always have a good appetite.
it
ri And why should they grieve and cry over one lost fruit if there
f
û€t rÌ
are so rnany still on the tree?
me
Lnd
VII
/es.
the The strange phenomenon which I could not account for was
the that Isrnail recovered from his love for Mary only to find himself
tny once rnore in love. Was it because his heart could not remain
isis ernpty for long? Or was it that Mary had awakened his once
lnd slurnbering heart? Ismail used to have only the vaguest feelings
gst for Egypt. He felt like a grain of sancl that merged with other
lce. countless grains and was lost in them: although separate, it could
row not be distinguished from them. Now, however, he began to feel
the hirnself like a link in a long chain that tied and pulled hirn
ake towards his country. In his mind Egypt appeared like the forest

2l
 .]-HF], SAINT,S I,AMP

bricle upor.r whour an evil witch had cast a spell of sleep with her
magic wand. There she was lying asleep, dressed up in her finery
and jewels lor her wedding night. Accursecl be the eye that was
blincl to her beauty and the nose that could not smell her
perfurne. He wor-rdered when she would wake up frorn her sleep?
Th_e stror.rger his love for Egypt grew, the lnore itnpatient he
became with the Eqyptians. Yet they were his own people ancl
they were not really to blame. They were only tl"re victims of I

ignorance, poverty, disease and age-long oppression. He hacl

ofterr looked at the dying witl-rout wincing and touched tl're
leprous, and his rìloutll had often been close to the mouths ol the
feverish. Woulcl he now shrink back lrorn toucl.ring this lnass of
flesh ancl blood ol which his own flesl.r ancl blood was a part?
In his love for Egy¡tt he had vowed to rernove all the wrongs he
coulcl see. Mary had taught l.rim to be inclependent and llever
'j again woulcl they
. lte able to feed him on tl.reir superstitions'
,t
;.1 illusions and custotns. Not for nothing hacl he lived in Europe
i
ancl offerecl his prayers to science and scientific logic. He knerv
that his relationship to ar.ryltocly he catne into contact with woulcl
be one long struggle, although in the zeal of his youth he
unclerratecl the extet"rt and the difficulty of the struggle. In fact
he was alreacly eager to plunge into the lirst battle. He irnagined
himself a journalist or a public speaker expounding his views
ancl beliefs to the public.
The train set out lor Cairo, although he had l'rot sent the
intendecl wire. He did not know wl.ry his cletermination failed
him, ancl he coulcl not face tneeting his farnily at the railway
station an.riclst the noise and shouting and his cutnbersome
luggage witl.r everybody looking on. No, he woulcl rather meet his
clearest peo¡rle at horne, away frotn the inquisitive eyes of
strarlgers, not realizing the shock this would cause his agecl
parents. At the thought of his parents fear crePt into his heart.
Woulcl he ever lte altle to pay back part of the enormous debt
l're owed them? There he was back horne, armecl with the weapon

22
 ,--

THE SAINT'S LAMP

6is father hacl wanted for him ancl with this weapou he was
going to hew his way to the frotrt ranks. He worrld tuln his llack
o¡ the governltÌellt service alrcl set up a private clinic in the llest
r resiclential clistrict of Cairo. He was going to dazzle the Cairenes
?
at first, tl.ren all the Egyptians, witl'r his mastery ancl experience llj
ii
l irl mecliciue. WheIr l're h4d acquired enougl'r rllorìey, he was goine .ì
I to let his fatl"rer retire and buy sotne land lor l.rim in their native
I

f village so that his lather might spend his clays there, quietly and
I without any lrìore clruclgery. But he sudclenly rernenlbered that l.re
e had not brought thet.n any presetìts from Europe and this
e dampened iris spirits. However, he tried to clìeer hintself up lly
I the tl'rought that there rvas notl.ring in the whole of Europe that
? was suitable for his parerìts. And wl.rat about Fatima al-
e Nalrawiyya? He felt a little disturbed at the tnetnory of Fatima.
rl"
He was still bouncl by his word, and now that he had returued
single there woulcl be no excuse for l.riru il he thought of
e breaking the engagernent. But that was a cornplicated lÌìatter
ancl had better be left for the tirne being.
cl Looking out of the window he saw the countryside as if swept
e by a saldstorlÌr: so dusty, derelict ancl ruined it was. The hawkers
)t at the railway stations were dressed in tatters and breathless like
d hunted anir.nals, their faces batlred in sweat.
rs When the horse-carriage he took frorn Cairo station turned,,
into the narrow street ol Al-Khalij, which was not wicle enough
te lor a trarn car, he. carne upon a sight tnuch worse than he l-rad
d ever been able to irnagine: dirt, flies, poverty and houses tutn-
v bling c!-gwn. He becarne very gloomy and sad, and deep in his
IE soul he felt the flarne of revolution kindle and grow larger and
is larger. His deterrnination grew strolìger.
rf There he was standing before his horne. He lifted the knocker
:d and let it fall. 'Ihe knocking rningled with the beating of his
't. l.reart. He heard a soft voice asking in the accent of the wotnen
)t of Cairo: "Who is it?" "It is me, Isrnail," he replied, "opetr the
rn door, Fatirna."

L.)
 THE SAINT'S T,AMP

VIII

How cruel Isn-rail was! How ignorant is youth! His mother

nearly fainted. She was tongue-tied as sl.re eurbraced hirn and
kissecl his face and hancls, gasping and crying. Good God! How
she hacl aged ancl how weak sl're had becotne, and l.row feeble her
voice and eyesight had grown. The absent one is always under
an illusior.r; he expects when he colnes back to find the people
he loves the saure as he left tl.reln years ago. He heard a voice
whispering ir.rside him: "S!g.is totally devoid of personality. Slîe
is sirrrply a rììass of negative goodness."
His father walked up to hirn with a quiet srnile on his face. He
had gorre grey, but his back was still straight. In his eyes tìrere
was a look that denoted a rnixture of patience and exhaustion,
of an easy conscience and with it the awareness of bearing a
l-reavy burder.r. Isrnail was to know later that he had fallen upon
evil clays. Although l.ris financial resources had dwindled he still
regularly cleposited in the bank the necessary lnoney for his son.
He never rnentionecl his troubles to his son or wrote to hirn to
ask hirn to hurry with his studies ancl corne home. While Ismail
lvas enjoying hirnself with his girl-friend in Scotland and eating
beefsteak, his father was confined to his own horne feeding on
radi¡h a.¡:çl bq4¡1 ç4kes.
Isrnail stole a glance frorn the corner of his eye at the house.
It was rnuch srnaller and darker than he could rernetnber. Did his
people still use an oil-larnp? The old pieces of furniture scattered
i-n the roolns see¡rì-ed, .in spitç of the long years of compan-
ionship, as if they were strangers in a land of exile. Isrnail
wondered why the stone floor was not covered with carpets.
Tl"rere was Umrn Muharntnad dithering as was her wont, busy
with the pots and pans and dishes. He scolded her and told her
to be quiet when she burst out into shrill cries of delight.
But where was Fatima al-Nabawiyya? There she catne, a
young wolnan whose two plaits of hair, cheap glass bracelets,

24
 THE SAINt'S LAMP

!yhos-9
as loudly as Possible that she
of the country. Was that the girl he was going to rnarry? He
knew at once that he would go back on his word. And why were
her eyes bandaged? He noticed that she raised her chin so that
she rnight be able to see his face. He soon realized that her
diseased eyes had grown much worse since he left.
SgBç¡er w4q. rçady,and p-erhap,r it waufçr his.hcnefil:trar¡bev I
sat round a table rnade of cheap white. wgod. \elthe¡ 1þey, pql fr
delisht and he from the shock of r
)," -- rnuch: thev frorn sheer^-_..._.\-,ç...
tìÞ'âre . .::_.:.:=
fr,al¡saliqA-,Uncle Ismail confessed to rne later that, at a tirne
when the happiness oÊ being back with his parents should have
left no room in his rnind for drawing comparisons and criticising,
he could not help wondering how on earth he was going to bring
himself to live with them and how he was going to find his
cornfort in their house.
His bed was tnade. Sheikh Rajab insisted he should retire to
his roorn to give his son a chance to rest from his fatiguing
journey. His rnother, dragging herself away was about to leave
hirn when pointing to Fatima she said: "Come here Fatirna, I
must put some drops in your eyes before you go to bed."
I
Isrnail saw his rnother holding a small bottle from which she
poured a certain liquid into the eyes of Fatima who lay on the
II
floor resting her head on his mother's knee. Fatima groaned with
A

pain as the drops reached her eyes.

¡
{ "What is that, Mother?" asked Ismail.
"It is oil frorn Urnm Hashim's lamp," replied his mother.
"Your friend Sheikh Dardiri brought it for us. He still
rernernbers you and longs to see you again. Do you remember
hirn or have you forgotten him?"
As if stung by an adder Ismail jumped to his feet. Wasn't it
strange that on the first night of his return he, an eye specialist,
should see how some diseased eyes were treated in his own
lL',- country?

25
 THE SAINT'S I-AMP

Isrnail went up to Fatirna, retnoved her bandage ancl exalnined

hel eyes. He founcl the eyelids and eyeballs badly damaged by
trachonra. However, if given the right kind of treatrnent tlìey
would recover) ar-rcl this hot burning oil was sure to lnake them
worse. At the top of his voice he screarned at his lnother:
"How could you hurt the girl so? How could yor.r do a thing
like that to her? You are a religious wornan and you pray. How
could you then accept such superstitions and illusions?"
His lnother was tongue-tied. She triecl in vain to lnurlnur
sornethir.rg. Ismail saw the figure of his father at the door, in a
short white rright shirt and on his head a cap underneath which
appeared a grave face. Did his kind heart expect a rnishap?
Perhaps he had seen in Ismail's behaviour, in his rnovements and
looks something that aroused his suspicions frorn the start? He
calne out to see what had happened and what was the cause of
the shouting.
At last his rnother was able to talk. Invoking God's help she
said: "May God protect you, my son! May He keep you sane!
This is something otl.rer than rnedicine. This is the blessing of
Ijrnrn Hashim."
Like an angry bull before which a red cloth was being waved,
Isn.rail thunderecl, "It's your Ulnrn Hashirn here who will rob the
girl of her sight. You will see how I shall treat her, and how at
rny hands she will get the cure she has sought in vain frorn lJrnrn
Hashim."
"There is many a persor"r, rny son, who believes in the power
and blessing of the oil of Unu.n Hashirn, the protectress of the
weak and clisabled. They tried it and God cured thern. We have
all our life relied upon God and her. We have always believed in
, her rniracles."
"I know neitl-rer Hashirn's mother nor the devil's."
At these words silence fell on the house, the oppressive silence
of the tornb-that house where dwelt only the Koran recitations
and the echoes of the Muezzin announcing prayers. It was as if

26
 THE SAINT,S LAMP

they all awoke and grew attentive, then were crestfallen and
finally put out. In their place reigned darkness and awe-they
could not live in the same house with that strange spirit that had
colne to thern from across the seas.
Isr¡ail heard his father's voice as if corning from a distance:
"What is it you say? Is that all you have learnt abroad? Is all our
reward that you should come back to us an infidel?"
What Isrnail did after that indicated that his old nervous
r trouble had suddenly come back. He burst out shouting and
screarning afresh. He was not aware of what he was doing, his
rnouth felt dry, his chest was on fire and his head was swimming
in a strange world. He was quickly up on his feet with a
terrifying look in his eyes. His mother cowered before him and
his father stepped aside. He rushed at his mother trying to snatch
f the bottle frorn her hand. After a momentary struggle she let him
take it. He snatched it rudely from her and with a quick, jerky
lnovelnent threw it out of the window.
,! The noise it rnade when it broke in the street sounded like the
ù
f Ìì
explosion of the first bomb in his battle.
{ Isrnail stood there for a mornent, not knowing what to do. He
[,
1
turned his eyes frorn his mother to Fatima and then to his father.
They all looked kindly and pityingly at him, but they were
,t devoid of tolerance and understanding. He grew rnore agitated
as it seerned to him they looked a bit afraid and he made for the
front door. On his way he picked up his father's walking stick
r which he found lying there and ran out of the house. He was
e deterrnined to deal to ignorance and superstition a mortal blow,
even if that should cost him his life.
n

IX
-W.bç-t¡, lqrpùç4rns-lelhç*.qSg3re.¡ç_tgSlslit_ap_ lrsual crolvded
s tuitLpeople" alllooking pqor-"arnd wrc&heil4nd theilfeet heavy
f .with the chains of oppress,i.gq,.Tbey cqUld nq_t

27
 THE SAINT'S I,AMP

beings living in an age in which even the inanilnate was enclowed

l-v-ith !i,fe. Tl.rey were like vacant and shattered relnains, pieces of
stone frorn ruined pillars in a waste land: they had no airn other
thar.r standing in the way of a passer by. And what were those
anilnal r.roises they rnacle and that rniserable food which they
I
deyoured? Isrnail exarnined their faces, but he could only
..1 see the
0:" \

marks of a profound torpor, as if they were all the victirns of

opiurn. Not a single face wore a hutnan expression' Those
Egyptians, he thought, were a chattering, dull race, hairless ancl
beardless, naked and bare-footed with blood for urine and
worms for stools. They received blows on their elongated napes
with but a srnile of hurnility that distorted the whole of their
face. F,gypt herself was nothing but a sprawling piece of rnucl
that had fallen asleep in the middle of the desert. Above it clouds
of flies,ancl mosquitoes were buzzing and on it a herd of lean
buffaloes tnoved knee deep in rnud. .The square was full of
people selling salted water melon pips, rushnuts and peanuts,
sweetlìteat, cakes and pastry of different kinds, soft and puffed
at one rnillierne each. Along its sides were numberless cafés,
,lp-reading gnto tlÌe pavements and against the walls; their only
li contents were a stove, a water
jug and a hubble-bubble' Bodies j
I
had not been washed for years, soap being no nìore than a rnyth''
In front of Isrnail a girl passed with plucked eyebrows and eyes
heavily rnade up with kohl, wrapping her milaya tightly round
herself to accentuate her hips and to show part of her dress' She
wore a veil, which was designed to reveal her face and a
rneaningless brass tube on her nose. Isrnail was nauseated by tl-re
ugliness and hypocrisy of the sight. Soon rnen started brushing
thernselves against her in the crowd as if they were dogs that had
never seen a bitch in all their lives. Here was petrifaction that
would kill any progress, a nothingness where tirne had no
rneaning and the wild irnaginings induced by drugs and sleepers'
dreatns in broad daYlight.
If only he could, Isrnail would have stopped every man and

28
 - THE SAINI|,S LAMP

I ruclely shaken his artn, saying: "\Make up! Wake up from your
f sleep and opell your eyes. Wl'rat is all this pointless and useless
r arguing, this gibberish and chattering about trivial rnatters? You
e
live in a world of superstitiolt and you believe in idols' You urake
Y pilgrirnages to tonrbs and seek refuge with the dead'"
e He stulnbled over a child lying on the pavement ancl around
f him flocked crowds of beggars, exposing their rnaimed and
e distorted boclies, which were to them an honest lneans of earning
d their living, as if they were part of Gocl's plenty, or as if thev
cl fonnecl proper skilled trades.
)S The crowd, like a mass of dead and disfigured bodies, weighed
tr heavily on Ismail's chest, tnaking his breathing difficult, and
cl strainins his nerves. Sorne of tl.re passers-by collided with hirn as
Ls il they were blind and feeling their way. Their content, he felt,
l1 was sheer weakness and their goodness idiocy, their patience was
¡f lìrere cowardice and their cheerfulness only clissolution.
,s, Having escaped frorn the crowd Isrnail ran into the tnosque,
:cl passed the inner courtyard to the barrier around the shrine. Here,
:S, instead ol fresh air, rose tl.rick vapours of barbaric perfuu'res.
ly There was the larnp hanging above, dust sticking to its glass and
3S soot having turned the chain into a black line. It gave off a
h. stifling smell of burning. It ernitted tnore stnoke than light, and
es even the faint ray of light it did give was only a sign of
rd ignorance and superstition. Near the ceiling hovered a bat which
-te
made his skin creep. Around the tomb leaned people like logs
a of wood pro¡rped up against it. They stood there paralyzed,
1e clutching at the railing. Arnongst thern was a rnan begging of the
rg Saint to do sornething for hin-r which lslnail could not fully
rd understand, but l.re gathered that the tnan wanted her to punish
at an enerny of his, to bring destruction on his home and to orphan
no his children. Turning a corner Isrnail saw Sheikh Dardiri sur-
rs' reptitiously hand to a rnan, wearing a wouran's handkerchief lor
a bandage on his heacl, a srnall bottle, as il he were srnuggling
rd solnething. Isrnail could no longer bear it. He lost his self-control

29
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

and heard the clangour ol innumerable bells in his head, his eyes
were swirnming. He stood on his toes, and airning the stick at the
larnp he witl.r one blow broke it to pieces, the bits of glass flying
all over the place while he cried: "I...I...I."
He could not finish his sentence-and who knows what he
intended to say? The crowds rushed at hil.n and broke gainst l.rirn.
He fell unconscious on the floor. They beat hirn and trod hirn'
His head was injured and blood streatned frorn the wound down
his face and his clothes were rent.
We knew later that he would have died under their feet if
Sheikh Dardiri l.rad not recognized hirn and delivered l.riln from
the wilcl and Êurious rnob, saying: "Leave hirn alone. I know hirn.
It's Isrnail Effendi, the son of Sheikh Rajab. He cotnes frotn our
area. Let go of hirn. Can't you see that he is possessed?"
He carried Isrnail hotne where he was laid on a bed and the
family on the night of his arrival, instead of rejoicing and
celebrating his return, assernbled round hirn to lnourn the loss of
lris reason.
Cursed l¡e the clay you left for Europe, Ismaill Would you
' had stayed with us here ar"rd had never seen Europe that has
corrupted you and made you lose your wits and insult your
i people, country and religion.
The mother beat her face from grief, the father rnoaned and
suppressed his anger and pain. Fatirna shed rnany tears'

X
Isrnail stayed in bed for rnany days. Stubbornly with his face
turned to the wall of the room he did not talk to anybody or ask
for anything. When he recovered a little he began to wonder if
he should go back to live arnong people who knew what life is.
His university had offered him the post of assistant professor
which l.re stupidly declined, but he thought perhaps they would

30
 THE SAINT'S LAMP

3S have hirn now if he applied for it. Why shouldn't he marry there
1e ancl set up a hotne for himself away frorn this accursed land?
rg Why did he leave England in the first place, England with its
lovely countryside and pleasant evenings and its severe and
:ìe violent winter, only to come to this land where people at the
It. sliglrtest drizzle rushed away in search of shelter as if they were
n. fleeing from a deluge or some great natural disaster? Didn't they
fn know that there were people who, while it rained, snowed and
stonned, went about their normal business silently and with a
if finn and irnpassive look on their faces? What was the u.sç
ln .qç¡sggling i+- a- .l

m. Egyptians who lived under oppression for so- rna-ny centuries that
enioy and qavour itq taste?
ur -tlrcy cvc-rr,-bl.çgan- la
He then fell asleep for a little while and his thoughts became
he confused. He felt like a bird that had fallen into a trap and had
rd been put into a cage from which it was trying to escape' He felt
of his body tied to this house which he could not bear, to the square
that he loathed. In vain would he try to run away.
)u One morning Isrnail woke up to find that he was bubbling
as with a strange activity. In such tnoments'a person moves from
ur one extreme to another suddenly and for no apparent reason. He
went out early in the rnorning and came back with a case full
nd of bottles, bandage and spatula. He started his treatment of
Fatirna's eyes according to his medical knowledge. In Europe he
had treated more than a hundred cases like Fatima's and not
once did his treatrnent fail to produce the required result. Why
shouldn't he succeed with Fatima then? The girl gave herself up
to hirn with a caltn assurance. She was not so much interested in
.ce her disease as in being the object of his kind attention and gentle
sk treatrnent. Isrnail's parents avoided him and ceased to object to
if the things he did or said for fear of his health'
is. Twice a day would he apply his rnedicine to Fatima's eyes,
ior once in the morning and once before she went to bed. This went
rld on for days and weeks without any noticeable improvement.

31
 THI1 SAINT'S I,AMP

Suclclenly they got tnuch worse, becatne inflamed al.rcl the white
begarr to flow over into the pupils.
Ismail cloubled his care and gave her a second course of
treatlrent. He turned her eyelids up, appliecl drops ancl ointtnent,
scraped and cleaned without avail. His meclicine had obviously
lailecl him. Not being ignorant he knew quite well that Fatirna
was approaching blindness and there was his rnedicine corn-
pletely powerless to do anytl.ring for her.
He took her for consultation to his colleagues at the Faculty
of Medicine and she was exarnined by professors of medicine
who approved of his rnethod of treating her and advised hirn to
go on with it. He persisted in the struggle against the disease. But
finally one day Fatirna woke up to find herself blind. She hacl
lost her last cornforting ray of light.

XI
I Isrnail ran away frorn hotne. -Hç could not stay there facing
Fatin-ra whose blindness was a proof of his own blindness. Nor
could he bear the reproachful looks of his parents. He kept on
wonclering what hacl gone arniss and why he hah failed. He
couldn't understand it at all. But where could he go? He had not
started work yet, and he was neither able nor willing to apply for
a governrnent post in an óutlying village. So he sold his books
and some of the equiprnent he had brought over with hirn frorn
Europe and rented a srnall room in a boarding house. His
landlady, Madarne Iphtalia, was a fat Greek worlan who so
exploited hirn frorn the tnoment he fell into her cluches that she
nearly charged hirn for wishing hirn good morning or for going
to answer the door bell for hirn. Once she charged him for an
extra lurnp of sugar he took for breakfast. Her srniles felt like
firrgers searching in his pockets. He once gave her a present of
cakes and cigarettes which she greedily and eagerly accepted and
yet on the following rnorning she asked hirn not to sit up late in

:\2
 rHe saIN'r's levp

lte his roorn in order to save electricity. Certainly Europeans in

Egypt, he thought, were tnade of a different stuff frorn those he
of l.rad seen in Europe. He used to lock hirnself up in his rootn, but
Dt' the way this wornan treated him drove hirn to roam about in the
sly streets frotn tnorning to rnidnight. Every evening l.re found
na hilnself-he did not know how-wandering in the r¡iddle of
ln- Sayyida Zaynab square near his parents' house. He used to gaze
at the windows hoping to see Fatirna's face or hear her voice,
Ity Fatima, his victirn who nevertheless never complained or blamed
ne hirn or rnade any fuss whatever. She had willingly given herself
to up to hirn and the result was that he destroyed her eyes. Yet she
iut never even asked her butcher to stop. He would thus remain
ad standing in the square for hours on end, distraught and absent
rninded, the old street cries creeping into his ears, exactly the
sarne as they used to be in the old days. Was that possibly
because every parent passed his trade on to his son as well as his
voice and position in the square? Poor people, he thoughtr all
ng I those who rendered any service to them did it grudgingly and
I
Ior hastened to repay thernselves many times the amount they had
on ri given. Nobody had helped them for the love of God or of thern.
le i Yet they blindly followed whornever they imagined to be sincere,
Lot
t
i hanging on to him, refusing to see his weakness or treachery.
or ê
This was a people in its second childhood. Given proper
,ks i
leadership it would with one stride leap back to its manhood
)ln ¡
again: the path was known and its ancient glory was there and
{is ll
I its mernories still alive. t.
so Isrnail wondered if in the whole of Europe there was a square
he like tlrat of Sayyida Zaynab. In Europe there were enormous
ng lovely buildings, refined art, many individualistic and lonely
an people, fighting tooth and nail, stabbing in the back and all
ke lnanner of exploitation. Love and pity there existed only when
of the day's work was over, they were a kind of recreation like
nd going to the cinerna or the theatre.
in . But no, no, he should not give in to such thoughts, otherwise

90
()O
 THE SAINT,S LAMP

he would be a renegacle to his rnincl and science. Who coulcl

possibly deny tl.re progress and civilization of Europe, and the
ig,no-¡4-qce , disease and oppression of the East? History hacl
passed its verdict which was unalterable: there was no means of
. clenying that we were once a great tree that blossorned forth,
produced its crop of fruit for sorne tirne and then shr:ank ancl
died gut.
Isrnail would then escape frorn the square and rnake for the
room where he would spend the night thinking of sorne device
to escape back to Europe. Yet the following night he would fincì
hirnself back in his usual spot in the Sayyida square.

XII
When Rarnadan carne it dicl not occur to hirn to fast. However,
he began to stay longer in the square, thinking. There was
definitely sornething new il'r the air, in the creatures as well as in
the inanirnate objects. It was as if the world had cast off its old
dress and put on a new one. There was an atrnosphere of a truce
after a hard battle everywhere.
Islnail wonclered why he had failed. He had corne back frorn
Europe with a huge cluiver stuffed with knowledge, and yet when
he exarnined it now he found it all ernpty. It did not contain the
answer to his cluestion but instead it lay there, insignificantly
srnall and clurnb. In spite of its lightness he felt it grow heavy
suddenly. He lookecl around at the square, his eye lingering on
tþ*rn¿s-s-çç. ¡gl¡o1¡_ lrq, n g grr ge¡ lound unb ea rab le. H e b e gan to
.-l

sn.rile at the jokes and the laughter which he could hear and
which brought back to his rnind what he used to hear in the days
of his youth. He clid not think that there was a people that kepr
its distinctive character and ternperarnent despite the changes of
rulers and the vicissitude of events like the Bgyptians. The native
Cairene who passed before him now could have easily iurnped
straight from the pages of the historian al-Jabarti. Isrnail began

34
 TI-to s¡INtrs LAtt¿p

rlcl i to feel secure ancl the ground seeured solid under his feet. There
r'" i
were no tnasses of inclivicluals in front ol him, but a wl.role people
ucli united by a cotntron bond which was a kind of faith ternpered
of. by tirne. Then he began to see in those faces a new rneaning
th,; hitherto unrroticecl by hirn. .Here people l.rad arrived at. a state of
ncl , tranquillity ancl assurance with the sword sheathed; while in
Europe there we re only hectic activity and anxiety, an
he unllagging war, and tl.re sword ever drawn. But why compare at
ce all? Surely a lover cloes not draw comparisons. If comparison
:ld cornes in by the door ìove goes out b)' the window.
Then came the night of al-qadr.rì Islnail was aware that it had
set in, in l.ris l.reart there was a strange longing for its rnernory.
He hacl been brouglÌt up to venerate that night and to believe in
its virtues ancl its superiority to all others. He never felt on any
ert other night, not even during the feast, what he then felt of
as devotion ancl fear of God. In his rnind it used to be a white spot
in in the darkness of the other nights. Many a time did he lift up
ld his eyes on this night to the sky and was transported by the
ce sublirne beauty of the stars which he clid not see at any other
of the year.
tin-re
rll-l For a second his thoughts were suspended. His attention was
3n drawn to the sound of deep breathing echoing throughout the
he square. That rnust be Saint al-Atris, no doubt. He raised his eyes,
ly and behold!-the clorne was flooded with light which emanated
vy from sornething swinging inside it. Isrnail shook from top to toe.
)lt "Oh lightl where have you been away from lne all these years?
to You are incleed welcorne! The thick cloud of darkness that has
rd been shroucling rny heart and eyes has gone. Now I understand
ys
'' 'Laylat al-qaclr'(the Night ol Power), the night on which the Koran was sent
pt down to tlie Prophet. It is clescril¡ed in the Koran as better than a thousand
of lnonths. On that night the angels descend and convey blessings to the believers
ve frorn sunset to daybreak.'Laylat al-qadr' is one of the nights of the last ten day-s
of Rarnaclan, generally supposed to l¡e the 27th of the month. (This note has l;een
scl
insertecl here at the request of the author. See E. W. Lane, Zle Manners and tlrc
ìn Custonts of tlte Modent Egyptians. Everyrnan's Library, p. 484. Translator)

35
 THIi SAINT'S I-AMP

rvhat has beer.r hidclen from tne. There can be no science without
faith. She uever believed iu ure, but in your blessing and
magnanimity and power, Oh UInn.r Hashirn!"
Isn-rail enterecl the tnosque and walked to the shrine with his
head bent in veneration. He lound it decorated with the dancing
flarnes of fifty candles, which Sheikh Dardiri hacl taken one by
one from a tall dark girl with curly hair' It was Nailna who hacl
shaken off her depression and who revealed pearl white teeth
when she opened her lnouth to speak. One look at her was
sufficient to rnake one forget the existence of all ugly things.
She had patiently waited and kept her faith alive, and so God
redeerned her. Now she had come to fulfil the vow she had rnade
seven years ago. She never despaired or rebelled or lost hope in
God's Inercy.
But he, the educated young tnan, who was intelligent and
cultured, nursed his pride and rebelled, he attacked and,
overreaching hirnself, fell down.
Lifting up his eyes Isrnail saw the larnp burning like a
beautiful eye that saw and understood everything. It seerned that
the larnp was winking at hirn and srniling. Sheikh Dardiri carne
up to hirn to enquire about his health and to hear his news. "This
is a blessed night, Sheikh Dardiri," said Isrnail, and added,
"Please, will you give rne some of the larnp oil?" "By God you are
lucky. It is not only al-qadr night, but the Visitation night as
well."
Holding the bottle Isrnail went out of the tnosque, into the
square, talking to hirnself and addressing the square and its
inl-rabitants:
"Corne to me, all of you. Sorne of you have done tne hartn,
have lied to rne and have cheated rne. Yçt in my h-eart -there is
still room for your dirt, igngrancç -and c¡udities' You. are of rny
Uff. a"d- I arn of yoqrs. I am the child of tþis arça, and this
squarg. Tirne has been unjust to you and the more unjust it is the
dearer you shall be to Ine."

36
 THII SAINT'S I,AMP
-
Entering his parent's hotne he called Fatirna: "Cotne here,
Fatima! Do t.tot clespair of being cured. I have brought you the
blessings of Umur Hashiml She will cure you of the disease and
return to you your sight which shall be as good as new." Pulling
her plait of I'rair, he went on: "And above all I shall teach you
how to eat ancl clrink, how to sit and dress. I shall urake a lacly
of you."
He returned anew to his science and rnedicine, but this time
fortified by faith. He clid r"rot despair when he found that the
clisease had becolne chrouic and would not budge. He persistecl
and persevered and fought it tenaciously until he coulcl see a ray
of l'rope. Fatima was recovering uncler his hands graclually every
day. She rnacle up towards the end of the treaturent for the tin.re
lost in the beginning. She was progressing by leaps and bouncls.
One day when she stoocl before hirn perfectly l.realthy, he
sought in vain both in his mind and in his heart lor any feelings
of surprise he was afraid he rnight fincl.

XIII
Ismail set up a clinic in Al-Baghalla cìistrict, near the hills, in
a house that was lit for anything but receiving eye patients. HiI
fee never exceedecl a piastre per consultation. An.rong his patient{
.there were no elegant rnen and wolnen, but they were all poorf
ancl bare-footed. Oddly enough he becarne tnore fatnous in the'
,rillug", surrouncling Cairo than in the city itself. His clinic'
swarrned with peasants, rnen and wornen who brought hirn gifts,
of eggs, honey, ducks and chickens. I

He perforrned rnany a difficult operation successfully using

lÌreans which woulcl make a European doctor gasp in arìraze-
rnent. He only held to the spirit ancl basis ol his science,
abandoning all elaborate instrumerìts and techniques. He reliecl
lirst upon God, and secondly on l.ris learning ar.rd the skill of his
hands. That is why God blessed his learning ancl skill. He uever

,tt
 THE SAINT,S I,AMP

sought to alnass wealtl.ì' buy land or own huge blocks of flats'

\
H-is sole aiur was to help his poor patients to recover at his I
¡
hands. 'l
Islnail married Fatirna and she bore hirn five sons and six
claughters.
Towarcls the end of his days he grew enonnously corpulent'
He had a huge appetite, ate greedily ancl was given to laughter,
rnirth and joking. His clothes were untidy with the cigarette ash
scatterecl all over l-ris sleeves and trousers:he was a chainslnoker.
He becarne asthrnatic, his lace grew critnson and his forehead
damp with sweat and his chest wheezy. Whoever saw hirn could
not tell whether he was tired or relaxed. Whenever laughter was
choked in his tl-rroat it gathered in his eyes. There are no eyes
lnore expressive than the eyes of those who suffer frorn chest
diseases: a merry little devil seelns to jurnp out of thern to you,
they are full of love and understanding, of playfulness and
good-nature, of tolerance and kindness. It is as if they tell you
above all things: "The world does not consist only of you and tne'
There are tnysteries in it and beauty, joy and splendour. Lucky
is tl-re man who feels thern. You rnust seek them, you lnust. ' '"
Until this clay the people of Al-Sayyida district remetnber
Isrnail with kindness and gratitude, and then pray God to forgive
l-rirn his sins. What sins? Nobody was able to tell rne, because of
the great love they bore him. Yet I gathered from srniles and
significant looks that all his life tny uncle had a weakness for
wolnen. It was as if his love of wornen was a manifestation of
his love and devotion to the whole of rnankind.
May God let hirn rest in Peace.

DO
r)O