SOURCE: “The Works of Najib Mahfuz,” in Najib Mahfuz: The Novelist-Philosopher of Cairo, St. Martin's Press, 1998, pp. 56–95.

In the following essay, Milson traces Mahfouz's development as a writer and discusses his major thematic concerns.

What one cannot theorize about, one must narrate.

—Umberto Eco

I do not believe that a literary work can be an answer to anything. A literary work is essentially a question.

—Najib Mahfuz

It is perhaps inevitable that the works of a writer whose literary output extends over a period of more than sixty years should invite attempts at classification by style or content.¹ I have chosen to forgo any attempt at a rigid categorization of Mahfuz's works, preferring to present a more or less chronological survey.² This chapter sketches Mahfuz's development as a writer and presents the major themes and ideas which preoccupy him. Particular attention will be paid to the early stories...