Morning and Evening Talk by Naguib Mahfouz

Author:Naguib Mahfouz [Mahfouz, Naguib]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: nepalifiction, TPB
ISBN: 9780307455062
Publisher: Anchor
Published: 1987-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Shakir Amer Amr

He was born and grew up in Bayn al-Ganayin, a street lined with modern houses and fields of vegetables and henna bushes extending east and west. He was the first child of Amer and Iffat, and the grandson of Amr Effendi and Abd al-Azim Pasha Dawud. The income from his father’s salary and private lessons and the small elegant house with a grape trellis, guava tree, and clove bushes in the back garden that his mother owned meant the family enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, just as it abundantly granted him, the eldest child, a smart appearance and not unreasonable pampering. Though sport was his forte he also achieved good results at school. When his brothers, Qadri and Fayyid, entered the world, sibling rivalry played its part, including fights and a contest with the parents, but the family was nevertheless regarded as cohesive and harmonious. The parents’ mutual love emitted pure breezes that promoted an atmosphere of peace and spread affection. The father’s integrity was as obvious as the mother’s endeavors to control. Shakir loved his grandparents Amr and Radia, and always displayed respect for Radia’s mysteries. Likewise, he loved his grandparents Abd al-Azim Pasha Dawud and Farida Hanem Husam. He took on the Dawud family’s customary contempt for the Murakibis, which intensified after Shakira became his mother, Iffat’s, sister-in-law. He grew up loyal to his family and his inner self more than to the nation or any political party. This was something he inherited from his mother, who was uninterested because of her upbringing, though on formal occasions would profess her father’s loyalty to Adli. As for Shakir’s own father, nothing remained of his Wafdism in the family home except a faint sentiment he kept hidden and which thus made no impression on the children.

Shakir enrolled in the faculty of medicine and plunged into his first serious emotional experience when he fell in love with Safa, his aunt Samira’s daughter. News of their romance reached his mother, Iffat, and she flew into a frenzy. There was nothing essentially wrong with Safa—she was a beautiful medical student and one of the family. However, despite a good relationship with them, Iffat considered her cousin Amr’s family beneath her; her son’s bride should rank higher on the social scale. Her anger was aroused and she did not conceal it. She made her feelings known to Samira and Amr’s families and offense was taken. At the same time, Shakir himself did not display any real opposition to his mother. Samira thus advised her daughter to sever relations with her cousin. The young girl was angry for her family honor and ended the relationship once she was convinced he was not serious about it. Shakir did not suffer particularly, though was rather annoyed at his mother. He graduated a doctor and, with his uncle Doctor Lutfi Pasha Abd al-Azim’s help, was appointed to a post in the ministry of health’s laboratories, then opened a clinic specializing in blood diseases a few years later.

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