TrenchantandwittycritiquesoflifeinCairounderBritishruleWhatʿĪsāibnHishāmToldUsisamasterpieceofearlytwentieth-centuryArabicprose.PennedbytheEgyptianjournalistMuḥammadal-Muwayliḥī,thishighlyoriginalworkwasfirstintroducedinserializedforminhisfamily’spioneeringnewspaperMiṣbāḥal-Sharq(LightoftheEast)andlaterpublishedinbookformin1907.Widelyhailedforitseruditionandmordantwit,WhatʿĪsāibnHishāmToldUswasembracedbyEgypt’sburgeoningreadingpublicandsoonbecamerequiredreadingforgenerationsofschoolstudents.BridgingclassicalgenresandmodernArabicfiction,WhatʿĪsāibnHishāmToldUsisdividedintotwoparts.Sarcasticintoneandcriticalinoutlook,thefirstpartofthebookrelatestheexcursionsofitsnarrator,ʿĪsāibnHishām,andhiscompanion,thePasha,througharapidlywesternizingCairoandprovidesvividcommentaryonasocietynegotiating--howeverimperfectly--theclashbetweentraditionalnormsandimportedculturalvalues.ThesecondhalftakesthenarratortoParistovisittheExpositionUniverselleof1900,whereal-MuwaylihicastsacriticaleyeonEuropeansociety,modernity,andtheroleofWesternimperialismasitripplesacrosstheglobe.PavingthewayforthemodernArabicnovel,WhatʿĪsāibnHishāmToldUsisinvaluablebothforitsinsightintocolonialEgyptanditspioneeringroleinArabicliteraryhistory.AnEnglish-onlyedition.
