What s ibn Hishm Told Us

Trenchant and witty critiques of life in Cairo under British rule What s ibn Hishm Told Us is a masterpiece of early twentieth-century Arabic prose. Penned by the Egyptian journalist Muammad al-Muwayli, this highly original work was first introduced in serialized form in his familys pioneering newspaper Mib al-Sharq (Light of the East) and later published in book form in 1907. Widely hailed for its erudition and mordant wit, What s ibn Hishm Told Us was embraced by Egypts burgeoning reading public and soon became required reading for generations of school students. Bridging classical genres and modern Arabic fiction, What s ibn Hishm Told Us is divided into two parts. Sarcastic in tone and critical in outlook, the first part of the book relates the excursions of its narrator, s ibn Hishm, and his companion, the Pasha, through a rapidly westernizing Cairo and provides vivid commentary on a society negotiatinghowever imperfectlythe clash between traditional norms and imported cultural values. The second half takes the narrator to Paris to visit the Exposition Universelle of 1900, where al-Muwaylihi casts a critical eye on European society, modernity, and the role of Western imperialism as it ripples across the globe. Paving the way for the modern Arabic novel, What s ibn Hishm Told Us is invaluable both for its insight into colonial Egypt and its pioneering role in Arabic literary history. An English-only edition.