ABSTRACT
Najib Mahfuz's novels, after Awlad haritna, are relatively short and each revolves mostly around a single episode in a man's life. The detailed description of the actual visit to the tomb cannot be related here, but the vast gap of feelings and thoughts between the compulsive rebel and her opportunistic-guide is clearly brought out. Julian was a British soldier who flirted with Maryam, the girl Fahmi loved, but was not permitted to marry. Now Fahmi is disturbed: memories of the past distract his attention from his immediate task. No aspect of Muslim civilization lends itself more convincingly to the demonstration of that grandiose and sublime failure to strike a balance between aspiration and achievement. Al-Liss wa al-kildb was written in 1960 and was influenced by the single-handed fight against society of a criminal whose exploits had arrested the public's attention during March and April of that year.
