Naguib Mahfouz's Zaabalawi

Naguib Mahfouz's "Zaabalawi.”
Zaabalawi is a religious narration whose main protagonist is an unnamed man with dire concerns regarding his failing health and is in search of a miracle cure. Zaabalawi is a holy person who can treat incurable disease, and the story outlines the narrator’s search for this man all over the alleys, offices, and streets in the city. As he begins the search, the narrator visits old acquaintances of Zaabalawi who have now become highly successful and materialistic but have no idea of the whereabouts of the Sheik. The narrator first meets a wealthy lawyer, Sheik Qamar, who lives in Garden City and regards the speaker with contempt. The second person that he meets is the local district Sheik who informs him that Zaabalawi has no fixed residences. The narrator meets several people during his searches such as the bookseller, the calligrapher, and the musician who finally sent him to a bar where he met Zaabalawi while supposedly having a dream. The

Wanas invites the narrator to drink to the point of passing out on the chair. Although it is a bit difficult to reconcile religion and alcoholism Sufism in Islam, take drunkenness to symbolize spiritual ecstasy (“Mahfouz's Zaabalawi as Parable”). The narrator’s drunken state and the dream may represent a state of spiritual ecstasy where he receives a visit from Zaabalawi. The mention of loss of willpower and memory as well as “the future disappearing” may be taken to signify moments of spiritual trance. The realization that the narrator never sees the face of Zaabalawi casts doubt on his physical existence and prompts the reader to think that maybe he only exists as a presence. Moreover, Wanas tells the narrator that Zaabalawi will heal him with no money but "Merely on sensing that you love him” (Mahfouz 900); it is an indication that Zaabalawi is more than just a