Cairo, Page 37

  The battles for space, money, and self-respect are fierce. “A mawlid without the saint” is how the singer Ahmad Adawiyya describes the Cairo melee in a hit song about crowds. It is difficult, dirty, and nerve-racking, agrees Sonallah Ibrahim, a soft-spoken writer who has chronicled his city’s modern transformation in novels that juxtapose the farcical trials of middle-class life with the state media’s pompous sloganeering. “I don’t like it,” he continues. “I have to live here. It’s not a choice.” Yet at the same time, concedes Ibrahim, Cairo is a rich city—“a place that lets you put distance between yourself and others,” as he puts it.

  There are other layers of richness, too. Despite the cultural stagnation of recent decades, Cairo has escaped provincialism. The city remains a great mirror to the world at large, and a stark interface between tradition and modernity. Its special mix of piquant wit and whimsicality still provides an incomparable source of stories. Its people’s stubborn defiance is exasperating, but it also ensures that their city will never easily succumb to the forces of global monoculture. Amid the bewildering din, the anxious public pomp, and the insouciant private squalor, Cairo continues to exude that air of imperturbable permanence which only a proud and ancient city can give. Whatever challenges it may face, Cairo will surely endure. By the grace of Allah, for another five thousand years.

  WALKING IN THE late afternoon down a wide, dusty street in the City of the Dead, I am beckoned by an old man who sits outside the door of his tomb dwelling. “Come in, come in,” he says, beaming. “My house is yours.” Amid the cenotaphs of his ancestors he bustles about, preparing tea on a primus stove.

  “No, I have not lived here many years,” he says. “All my life I lived in Abbasiyya; that is my quarter. But then my building collapsed. I had no choice but to move to the cemetery.” He smiles. “But don’t think I am not happy. Here it is peaceful. I’m not alone with my dead relatives. I share my house with my little friends. Come, I will show you.”

  From under a tall brass bed he pulls a little dovecote made of split palm stalks. A parade of sleek pigeons struts out in single file. They preen and coo, totter over to the bright doorway, and fly off.

  Sitting on his doorstep, sipping his strong, sweet brew, we watch them swirl in widening hoops. Similar squadrons released from rooftops near and far make circles in silhouette against the sky. And now, as the sunset call to prayer is sounded, the old man’s flock of friends flutters home, alighting one by one to have their throats chucked, and to waddle plumply back into their cage.

  The old man speaks into the silence. “Of course I am happy,” he says. “I live in the greatest city in the world.”

  * * *

  *1 In a similar vein, historian Nadav Safran ascribes the failure of democracy in Egypt to the high-blown associations given to the word in Arabic: “The exclusively idealistic understanding of democracy is one of the reasons for the strange phenomenon that was repeatedly observed in Egypt, of various politicians and movements singing the praise of democracy while at the same time suppressing or even destroying altogether the institutions and procedures needed to make it function.”

  *2 This verse is adapted from one recalled from childhood by Dr. Afaf Lutfi al-Sayyid (see Bibliography).

  *3 Actually, al-Muwaylihi’s inspiration is more likely to have been the Koranic story of the People of the Cave, which, like the Christian legend of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, describes a group of youths who fell asleep in a cave, only to wake up hundreds of years later.

  *4 “The Ruins,” “You Are My Life,” and “They Made Me Remember,” respectively.

  *5 To the despair of Cairo filmmakers, income from sales has never matched production volume. State TV swindles producers by charging as much for a sixty-second ad as it pays to air a two-hour film. As for exports, poor copyright protection, video piracy, and the ban on public movie showings in wealthy Saudi Arabia mean that Cairo’s money share of the world movie market is a measly 0.1 percent.

  GLOSSARY

  There is no standard method of transliterating Arabic. I have tried to keep it simple by rendering proper names as they are commonly written in English, and by giving words Cairene, rather than classical Arabic, pronunciation. Lines over vowels indicate that the vowels are long and take emphasis. All letters are pronounced as in English, except those that don’t exist in English, namely:

  ṣ, ṭ, ḥ Extra-heavy versions of s, t, and h.

  q The Arabic letter qāf—like a k vocalized far back in the throat. In speech, Cairenes usually replace it with a glottal stop.

  gh, kh

  ’

  ‘ The first is pronounced like a gargle or the Parisian r, the second like a German or Scottish ch but harder. The Arabic letter hamza, pronounced as a glottal stop. The Arabic letter ’ayn; according to the 1904 edition of the Rev. R. Sterling’s Arabic Grammar, it should be pronounced as a “strong guttural produced by quick and forcible closure of the windpipe with the emission of the breath.”

  Abbasids A Muslim dynasty founded by descendants of the Prophet’s uncle Abbas. The Abbasid caliphs ruled from Baghdad from A.D. 750 to 1258 and were recognized by most Muslims as the rightful leaders of all Islam. By the second half of this era they had lost the ability to rule in more than name. Following the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258, an Abbasid caliph was kept as a puppet at the Mameluke sultan’s court in Cairo until 1517.

  afreet Ghost or ghoul.

  al-Ahram Cairo’s newspaper of record.

  al-Akhbar A slightly racier version of Al-Ahram.

  Almān Germans.

  amir (amīr) Commander or prince; a military rank below sultan.

  Ayyubid A Muslim dynasty, founded by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, or Saladin, which ruled at Cairo from 1171 to 1260.

  bāb Gate or door.

  baladi “Country” or “local,” as opposed to foreign.

  banṭalūn Trousers—from the French pantalon.

  barawīl Wheelbarrow.

  barīza Ten piasters.

  bawāb Doorman, porter or gate-keeper.

  Benben The stone or mound where ancient Egyptians believed Creation began.

  bey Ottoman rank beneath pasha; the equivalent of a Mameluke amir.

  bismallah In the name of God.

  caliph From the Arabic khalīfa, meaning a successor, the term referred to the supreme ruler of Muslims, that is, the Prophet Muhammad’s “successor” on earth. In some periods members of different families or sects claimed the title at the same time—for example, the Abbasids and the Fatimids.

  dinar An Islamic coin, typically gold (from the Latin denarius).

  dīwān Administrative bureau or council; also divan or reception hall.

  dragoman From the Arabic targumān, meaning translator; dragomen were hired by nineteenth-century tourists as guides and fixers.

  dukkān Small shop.

  effendi Turkish title that came to be applied to educated, white-collar professionals.

  Fatimids A Shi‘ite dynasty that ruled from Cairo from A.D. 969 to 1171.

  fatwa A religious ruling.

  fellah An Egyptian peasant; plural, fellaheen.

  fūl Fava beans; slow-cooked, they are Egypt’s national dish.

  Fustat, or Misr al-Fustat The precursor to Cairo, founded by the Arab general Amr ibn al-‘Asi in A.D. 641.

  galabiyya Long, simple robe—the traditional dress for Egyptian men.

  gama‘iyya Cooperative or revolving savings pool.

  gambari “Gambari, istakūza hayya!” is a street seller’s cry for shrimp and live lobsters.

  ḥāra Lane or alley; a small neighborhood in the traditional quarters.

  Heliopolis The Greek name for the ancient city of On; also a modern district of Cairo.

  ibn balad “Son of the country”—often used to refer to native-born Cairenes.

  imam (imam) A prayer leader in a mosque; a spiritual teacher or guide; or the divinely inspired leader of a Shi‘ite sect.

  Inglīz The English
.

  jizya Poll tax traditionally imposed on non-Muslims in Muslim societies. It fell out of use under Ottoman rule, and was officially abolished in the mid-nineteenth century.

  khawāga Western foreigner—a title of wary respect tinged with ironical contempt; plural, khawagāt.

  ma‘allim Literally, teacher, but more commonly meaning foreman or boss.

  ma‘assil Chopped tobacco stewed in molasses—what is usually smoked in a shīsha.

  madrasa A school. In medieval times it referred to a college of Islamic law.

  Mameluke Literally, “possessed.” In Cairo the term came to be applied to specially trained military slaves, and subsequently to the sultanate established by them which lasted from 1260 to 1517.

  mamnū‘ Forbidden.

  maqābir Plural of maqbara, meaning a tomb.

  mashrafiyya Wooden latticework screening traditionally used in Cairene houses. Commonly misnamed mashrabiyya.

  mawlid Literally, a birthday, but the term refers to the annual feast in memory of a saint or holy person.

  Memphis The first capital of Egypt; its ruins lie just south of Cairo.

  Middle Kingdom The period of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties, 2050–1780 B.C.

  milāya A long black shawl traditionally worn over the head by working-class Egyptian women, and drawn across the face.

  mish ma‘qūl Not conceivable—that is, horrible.

  Misr or Masr Means Egypt, and is also the popular name for Cairo.

  mithqāl A measure of weight equal to 4.68 grams.

  munshid A singer of Sufi ballads and odes in praise of God and the Prophet.

  nās People—with the implication of “respectable” people.

  New Kingdom The period of the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Dynasties, 1560–1080 B.C., which saw a great revival of Egypt under pharaohs such as Tutmosis I—III and Ramses I–XII.

  Old Kingdom The period of the Fourth to the Eighth Dynasties, 2600–2180 B.C. This was the period of the great pyramid builders, when Memphis served as Egypt’s capital.

  On The earliest city on the site of Cairo. The world was created here, according to the ancient Egyptians.

  Ottoman The dynasty founded by the Turkish chieftain Osman. The Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 and Cairo in 1517, and the Ottoman sultans were Egypt’s nominal rulers until 1914.

  pasha An Ottoman title—a rank above bey. When Egypt became a kingdom in 1922, the title was widely bestowed on prominent politicians, businessmen, and the like; it was abolished after the 1952 revolution. (In Arabic there is no letter p, so the word is pronounced basha; plural, bashawāt.)

  piaster One-hundredth of an Egyptian pound. Equivalent to five U.S. cents in 1945; one-third of a cent in 1995.

  Ptolemies The rulers of Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C. Greek-speaking descendants of one of Alexander the Great’s generals, they chose Alexandria as their capital. Cleopatra was the last of the Ptolemaic line.

  al-Qahira The Victorious—the name (referring to the planet Mars) given to the imperial city founded north of Fustat by the Fatimids in A.D. 969.

  qahwa Café.

  radḥ Rhyming abuse; mud-slinging.

  rayyis Chief or president.

  rial (riyāl) In medieval times equal to one-twentieth of a dinar; now it means twenty piastres.

  Sa‘īdi An Upper Egyptian.

  sha‘b The people; the masses.

  skāri‘ Street.

  sharia (sharī‘a) Islamic law.

  sharīf Descendant of the Prophet.

  shīsha Water pipe.

  Shi‘ite Minority branch of Islam, distinguished by a belief in the right to rule of the Prophet’s descendants through his son-in-law Ali.

  shillin Five piastres: a shilling.

  Sufi Disciple of Sufism, which is a form of Islamic mysticism. As an adjective, pertaining to Sufism.

  sultan Secular title meaning ruler or king.

  Sunna Exemplary actions of the Prophet.

  Sunni The mainstream, orthodox, branch of Islam as opposed to the Shi‘i or Shi‘ite branch; those who follow the Sunna or customs recorded of the Prophet Muhammad.

  tarboosh A fez.

  ‘ulema The men of ‘ilm or science—that is, scholars of Islamic religion, law, and tradition.

  wāli A “friend” of God—a person believed to be favored by God and therefore respected as a saint.

  waqf A “hold” on property: a form of Islamic endowment trust.

  wazir (wazir) Chief minister or vizier.

  zabbālīn Ragpickers.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  It was agreed with the editors from the beginning that there were to be no endnotes for this book. To make it easier for readers to trace sources, I have divided this list into chronological sections. Works that overlap historical periods will be found under the heading “General.” So, too, will a few works of fiction, which deserve listing for their historical setting in Cairo as well as for their excellence.

  This is not intended to be an exhaustive bibliography on the subject of Cairo; only works that have actually been used in the making of this book are included.

  GENERAL

  Abu Lughod, Janet. Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1971.

  Aldridge, James. Cairo. London: Macmillan, 1969.

  Ali, Maulana Muhammad. The Religion of Islam: A Comprehensive Discussion of its Sources, Principles and Practices. Lahore: The Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam, 1950.

  Ameer Ali, Syed. A Short History of the Saracens. Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1926.

  Amin, Ahmad. Qāmūs al-‘ādāt wal-Taqālīd wal-Ta‘ābīr al-Misriyya. Cairo: Dar al-Kitab al-Masri, 1981.

  Berchet, Jean-Claude, ed. Le Voyage en Orient: Anthologie des voyageurs francais dans le Levant. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1985.

  Bohas, Georges, and Jean-Patrick Guillaume, ed. and trans. Le Roman de Baibars, 4 vols. Paris: Editions Sinbad, 1985–89.

  Burton, Richard F. The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night. London: The Burton Club, 1886.

  Carré, J. M. Voyageurs et écrivairns français en Égypte, 2 vols. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 1956.

  Clerget, Marcel. Le Caire: Étude de géographie urbaine et d’histoire économique, 2 vols. Cairo: Imprimerie Schindler, 1934.

  The Encyclopedia of Islam, new ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1995.

  Farag, Fouad. Al-Qāhira, 3 vols. Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1946.

  Fargeon, Maurice. Les Juifs en Égypte depuis les origines jusqu’à ce jour. Cairo: Maurice Sananès, Editeur, 1938.

  Ghali, Waguih. Beer in the Snooker Club. London: André Deutsch, 1964.

  Ghallab, Muhammad. Les Survivances de l’Égypte Antique dans le folklore égyptien moderne. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste, 1929.

  al-Ghitani, Gamal. Malāmiḥ al-Qāhira fī Alf Sana. Cairo: Dar Nahdat Misr, 1997.

  Ghosh, Amitav. In an Antique Land. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.

  Glassé, Cyril. The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. London: Stacey International, 1989.

  Hakim, Besim S. Arabic Islamic Cities: Building and Planning Principles. London: Kegan Paul International, 1986.

  Hamdan, Gamal. Al-Qāhira. Cairo: Kitab al-Hilal, 1993.

  ——. Shakhsiyat Misr. Cairo: Dar al-Kutub, 1970.

  Heyworth-Dunn, Gamaleddine. Select Bibliography on Egypt. Cairo, 1952.

  Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. London: Faber and Faber, 1991.

  Huart, Clement. A History of Arabic Literature. Beirut: Khayats, 1966.

  Lane, Edward William. Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. London: 1836.

  Lane-Poole, Stanley. Cairo: Sketches of Its History, Monuments, and Social Life. London: J. S. Virtue, 1892.

  Lyster, William. The Citadel of Cairo: A History and Guide. Cairo: Palm Press, 1993.

  McPherson, J. W. The Moulids of Egypt. Cairo, 1941.

  Mahfouz, Naguib. Autumn Quail, trans. Roger Allen. Cairo: American Uni
versity in Cairo Press, 1985.

  Manley, Deborah. The Nile: A Traveller’s Anthology. London: Cassell, 1991.

  Meinardus, Otto. Christian Egypt Ancient and Modern. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 1965.

  Pick, Christopher. Egypt: A Traveller’s Anthology. London: John Murray, 1991.

  Pickthall, Muhammad M., trans. The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an. Mecca: Muslim World League, 1977.

  Raymond, Andre. Le Caire. Paris: Fayard, 1993.

  Rodenbeck, John, et al. Cairo (Insight City Guides series). Singapore: APA Publications, 1992.

  Rodenbeck, J.; H. Yousef; et al. Egypt. (Insight Guides). Singapore: APA Publications, 1988.

  Ruthven, Malise, and the Editors of Time-Life. Cairo. Amsterdam: Life Books, 1980.

  Sayyid, Ayman Fuad. At-Tatawwur al-‘Umrāni fi Madīnat al-Qāhira. Cairo: Dar al-Misriyya al-Lubnaniyya, 1997.

  Seton-Williams, V., and P. Stocks. Egypt (Blue Guide). London: A. & C. Black, 1993.

  Solé, Robert. Le Tarbouche. Paris: Seuil, 1992.

  Soueif, Ahdaf. In the Eye of the Sun. London: Bloomsbury, 1992.

  al-Tarabili, Abaas. Shawāri‘ Laha Tārhkh. Cairo: Dar al-Misriyya al-Lubnaniyya, 1997.

  Taylor, Walt. Arabic Words in English. (SPE Tract XXXVIII). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933.

  Wiet, Gaston. Cairo, City of Art and Commerce, trans. Seymour Feiler. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964.

  Zaki, Abd al-Rahman. Hadhihi Hiya al-Qahira. Cairo: Dar al-Mustaqbal, 1943.

  ——. Al-Qāhira. Cairo: Dar al-Mustaqbal, 1943.

  FROM PREHISTORY TO THE MUSLIM CONQUEST (A.D. 640)

  Baikie, James. Egyptian Papyri and Papyrus-Hunting. London: Religious Tract Society, 1925.

  Ball, John. Contributions to the Geography of Egypt. Cairo: Government Press, 1939.