nullius in verba

Thebes at War , the third instalment of the Ancient Egypt Novels, Naguib introduces us to the vagaries of war, avenging, deceit, suppression, death, love and suffering…. The musicality of Naguib can be heard in the sentences that he pens…. ‘The sun, high in the sky, sent out beams of light that quivered where they drenched the vegetation and sparkled where they touched the water…’ ‘It is the spirit of a master dictating to his slave, of a king incriminating his own people…the latter strives to enslave the former, while the former struggles to hold on to its independence by all the means at its disposal.’ ‘Once they had despaired of gaining anything further by continuing the battle, life lost its meaning for the soldiers, who determined to seek martyrdom on the spot that they brave sovereign had watered with his blood.’ ‘A battle that will be remembered forever has taken place, in which pain and glory alike took part.’ ‘I’m very afraid of them, sir, because, the only ones allowed to ste...

Naguib Mahfouz’s sonata continues with his second novel, Rhadopis of Nubi a. Here are some of Naguib’s Motifs… ‘Death is as natural as life. What is the value of eternity as long as we eat our fill after going hungry, grow old after being young, and know despair after joy?’ ‘You may be lucky enough to see her, may the gods protect your hearts from harm….Those fortunate enough to be near her caught glimpses of her jet-black hair adorned with threads of shining silk as it fell about the radiant orb of her face and cascaded onto her shoulders in a halo of night, as though it were a divine crown. Her cheeks were like fresh roses, and her delicate mouth was parted slightly to reveal teeth like jasmine petals in the sunlight set in a ring of cloves.’ ‘Reasonableness is a false and insincere garment in which the weak masquerade.’ ‘Is it not possible that two people disagree and both are right?’ ‘Whoever thinks you beautiful is blind, without vision. You are ugly because you are dead, and ther...

 I just finished reading the first of three novels of ancient Egypt, Khufu’s Wisdom by Naguib Mahfouz. And what a treat this was.  Just a few snippets of music that Naguib composes….. ‘And what is divinity…. ’Tis nothing if power.’ ‘Who should give up their life for the benefit of the other:  the people for Pharaoh, or Pharaoh for the people?’ ‘You rule according to the wish of the gods, not by the will of men. It is up to you to govern the people as you desire, not to ask yourself what you should do when they ask you!’ ‘If Fate really was as people say, then creation itself would be absurd. The wisdom of life would be negated, the nobility of man would be debased. Diligence and the mere appearance of it would be the same; so would labour and laziness, wakefulness and sleep, strength and weakness, rebellion, and obedience. No, Fate is a false belief to which the strong are not fashioned to submit.’ ‘O Lord! What was the wisdom of making a woman then? What is a woman with...