Tawfiq al-Hakim

Egyptian playwright and novelist.

• Born: October 9, 1898
• Place of birth: Alexandria, Egypt
• Died: July 26, 1987
• Place of death: Cairo, Egypt

Biography

Tawfiq al-Hakim, probably Egypt’s most famous playwright, was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on October 9, 1898. His mother, Asma al-Bustami, was the daughter of an Ottoman Turkish military officer and seemed to remain consciously aloof from Egypt’s majority Arabic social and cultural milieu. His father, Isma'il al-Hakim, was an Egyptian prosecutor and later a judge. His mother came from a wealthy background; his father did not. Yet Isma'il had achieved some recognition both as a member of the cultured middle class of Alexandria and as a public official in the legal branch of the government—both factors that would influence relations with his son.

As a boy, al-Hakim divided his time between classes and leisure hours in the company of an Alexandrian acting troupe known as al-Awalim. This experience with popular culture, combined with repeated exposure to village life as his father was transferred from post to post, gave the future writer a feeling for subjects he would describe in detail in his plays and novels.

In 1915, a year after the outbreak of World War I and the declaration of a British protectorate over Egypt, al-Hakim moved to Cairo to live with one of his uncles and to attend the Muhammad Ali Secondary School. There, his academic studies became secondary to his interest in popular theater and, in 1919, his participation as a student in the nationalist political disturbances that affected Egypt immediately after the war. Although al-Hakim did not finish his baccalaureate until 1921, he had by that date already written several musical plays for the al-Awalim troupe in Alexandria and a political play, al-Dayf al-thaqil (The unwelcome guest, written ca. 1918–20), criticizing the British for their role in Egypt. The play was never staged, due to objections by British censors, and its text has been lost.

Family priorities, more than personal preference, explain al-Hakim’s entry into law school in Cairo. Perhaps his real goal in starting education for a legal career was to go on to study in Europe, which he did in 1925. It was during these three (ultimately unsuccessful) student years in Paris that al-Hakim gained exposure to the different literary and artistic genres that would influence his own writing style. He spent as much time as possible in Parisian theaters and the opera, and he read voraciously from the works of George Bernard Shaw, Luigi Pirandello, and the classical Greek playwrights.

The major literary legacy from al-Hakim’s Paris years was his first novel, the semiautobiographical ‘Awdat al-rūh (1933; Return of the Spirit, 1990). Even more famous, although only half completed during this time, would be Ahl al-kahf (1933; The People of the Cave, 1989), which—like so many of his theatrical works—seems to have been written for publication, not necessarily for production. In some cases (certainly in the case of The People of the Cave, which was characterized as a “study of time and reality and . . . the power of truth”), al-Hakim’s theatrical dialogues proved too intellectual to be presented on the Egyptian stage during the interwar period.

Both of these landmark works were published in 1933, after al-Hakim had taken a job as a rural public prosecutor for the Egyptian Ministry of Justice. Popular social life in provincial villages, as well as the pervasive influence of Egyptian bureaucracy, was quite naturally depicted in his famous 1937 novel, Yawmīyāt nā’ib fī al-aryāf (Maze of Justice, 1947).

It seems clear that, on one hand, al-Hakim was trying to convince Egyptian theatrical groups to produce light but meaningful plays instead of superficial, traditional drama, while on the other hand he allowed himself the luxury of writing serious and intellectually stimulating dramatic pieces that were adaptations of themes of classical antiquity that had already attracted the artistic efforts of European playwrights. Examples of the latter include Bijmālyūn (1942; Pygmalion, 1961) and al-Malik Ūdīb (1949; King Oedipus, 1981.)

During the decade between the outbreak of World War II and the breakdown of order that led to the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy in 1952, al-Hakim also explored political subjects. Shajarat al-ḥukm (The tree of governance, 1938), a short play published just before the war, suggested that corruption had penetrated Egypt’s affairs to such an extent that only a “blessed revolution” could save the country. This charge led to the playwright’s removal from government service. This scandal only encouraged him to focus on studies of Egyptian society and the dilemmas which faced the educated classes. His “plays of social life,” more than a dozen works written between 1945 and 1950, were filled with reflections on the state of politics and the social malaise of the period; these poems were published in Masraḥ al-mujtama‘ (Theater of society, 1950). One work in this collection, Ughniyyat al-mawt (1950; The Song of Death, 1973), is particularly noteworthy for its effort to experiment with combinations of Egyptian colloquial language forms (to fit the milieu in which the action is placed, frequently in the rural countryside) together with classical Arabic structures. Finally, just before the 1952 coup, he wrote Bayna al-ḥarb wa-al-salām (Between War and Peace, 1984), a play with obvious political undertones. It was not published until 1956, after the regime had changed.

There is no doubt that the head of Egypt’s military regime from 1952 to 1970, Abdel Nasser, hoped to sponsor what he called (in a book dedication to al-Hakim) “a second, postrevolutionary return of the soul,” an allusion to the playwright’s early autobiographical novel. This favorable “official” view of al-Hakim’s contributions to modern Arabic literature was strengthened by his appointments as head of the Egyptian National Library and undersecretary for the Higher Council of Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences.

During this period, through the 1960s and into the 1970s, al-Hakim produced a number of works, including such well-known plays as al-Sulṭān al-ḥā’ir (1960; The Sultan's Dilemma, 1973) and Yā ṭāli‘ al-shajarah (1962; The Tree Climber, 1966), the latter of which was his first contribution to the Theater of the Absurd. Subsequently, he built on the foundations of The Tree Climber to write even more experimental plays. This free exercise of the playwright’s imagination and enabled him to demonstrate, throughout the later years of his productive career, a unique sense of humor that endeared him not only to his Egyptian public but also to Western readers of his works in translation.

Author Works

Drama:

al-Mar’ah al-jadīdah, pr. 1923

al-‘Arīs, pr. 1924

Khātim Sulaymān, pr. 1924

‘Alī Bābā, pr. 1926

Raṣāṣa fī al-qalb, 1931

Ahl al-kahf, pb. 1933 (The People of the Cave, 1989)

Shahrazād, pb. 1934 (English translation, 1955)

Muḥammad, pb. 1936 (Muhammad, 1985)

Masraḥīyāt Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm, pb. 1937 (collection of 8 plays; includes Nahr al-junūn, translated as The River of Madness, 1963)

Shajarat al-ḥukm, pb. 1938

Brāksā, aw Muškilat al-ḥukm, part 1, pb. 1939, part 2, pb. 1960

Ṣalāt al-malā’ikah, pb. 1941 (Angels’ Prayer, 1981)

Bijmālyūn, pb. 1942 (Pygmalion, 1961)

Sulaymān al-ḥakīm, pb. 1943 (The Wisdom of Solomon, 1981)

Himāri qāla lī, pb. 1945 (short plays, one translated as The Donkey Market, 1981)

al-Malik Ūdīb, pb. 1949 (King Oedipus, 1981)

Masraḥ al-mujtama‘, pb. 1950 (collection of 21 plays; includes Ughniyyat al-mawt, translated as The Song of Death, 1973)

al-Aydī al-nā‘imah, pb. 1954 (Tender Hands, 1984)

Īzīz, pb. 1955

Bayna al-ḥarb wa-al-salām, pb. 1956 (Between War and Peace, 1984)

al-Safqah, pb. 1956

al-Masraḥ al-munawwa‘, pb. 1956 (collection of plays, updated 1966)

Ashwāk al-salām, 1957

Lu‘bat al-mawt, pb. 1957

al-Sulṭān al-ḥā’ir, pb. 1960 (The Sultan’s Dilemma, 1973)

Yā ṭāli‘ al-shajarah, pb. 1962 (The Tree Climber, 1966)

al-Ṭa‘ām li-kull fam, pb. 1963 (Food for the Millions, 1984)

Riḥlat al-rabī‘ wal-al-kharīf, 1964

Shams al-nahār, pr. 1964 (Princess Sunshine, 1981)

Bank al-qalaq, pb. 1966

Maṣīr ṣurṣār, pb. 1966 (Fate of a Cockroach: Four Plays of Freedom, 1973)

Kull shay’ fī maḥallih, pb. 1966 (Not a Thing out of Place, 1973)

al-Wartah, pb. 1966 (Incrimination, 1984)

Majlis al-‘adl, pb. 1972 (collection of 3 one-act plays)

al-Ḥubb, 1973

Fate of a Cockroach: Four Plays of Freedom, pb. 1973 (Denys Johnson-Davies, translator)

al-Dunyā riwāyah hazalīyah, pb. 1974 (The World Is a Comedy, 1985)

al-Ḥamīr, pb. 1975

‘Imārat al-mu‘allim Kandūz, pb. 1981

Imsik ḥaramī, pb. 1981

Plays, Prefaces & Postscripts of Tawfiq al-Hakim, pb. 1981–84 (2 volumes; William M. Hutchins, translator)

Long Fiction:

‘Awdat al-rūh, 1933 (Return of the Spirit, 1990)

al-Qaṣr al-masḥūr, 1936 (with Taha Husayn)

Yawmīyāt nā’ib fī al-aryāf, 1937 (Maze of Justice, 1947)

‘Uṣfūr min al-sharq, 1938 (Bird of the East, 1966)

Rāqiṣat al-ma‘bad, 1939

al-Ribāṭ al-muqaddas, 1944

Short Fiction:

‘Ahd al-shayṭān, 1938

Qiṣaṣ, 1949 (2 volumes)

Arinī Allāh, 1953

In the Tavern of Life & Other Stories, 1998 (William M. Hutchins, translator)

Nonfiction:

Taḥta shams al-fikr, 1938

Min al-burj al-‘ājī, 1941

Taḥta al-miṣbāḥ al-akhḍar, 1941

Zahrat al-‘umr, 1943

Fann al-adab, 1952

Sijn al-‘umr, 1964

Qālabunā al-masraḥī, 1967

‘Awdat al-wa‘y, 1974 (The Return of Consciousness, 1985)

Naẓarāt fī al-dīn, al-thaqāfah, al-mujtama‘, 1979

Malāmiḥ dākhilīyah, 1982

Miṣr bayna ‘ahdayn, 1983

Bibliography

Al-Shetawi, Mahmoud. “The Treatment of Greek Drama by Tawfiq al-Hakim.” World Literature Today, vol. 63, no. 1, 1989, pp. 9–14. A specialized study.

Amin, Dina. “Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm.” Essays in Arabic Literary Biography, 1850–1950, edited by Roger Allen, Harrassowitz, 2010, pp. 98–113. A detailed overview of al-Hakim's life and work, incorporating criticism as well as discussion of the political and cultural contexts in which he wrote.

Badawi, M. M. Modern Arabic Drama in Egypt. Cambridge UP, 1987. Examines the state of Arabic drama in modern Egypt, touching on al-Hakim.

Badawi, M. M., editor. Modern Arabic Literature. Cambridge UP, 1992. A history of Arabic literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century, containing a long section on al-Hakim as well as a description of many other major dramatists in Egypt and the Arabic-speaking world.

El-Enany, Rasheed. “Tawfiq al-Hakim and the West: A New Assessment of the Relationship.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 27, no. 2, 2000, pp. 165–75, doi:10.1080/13530190020000510. Accessed 9 May 2017. An analysis of one of al-Hakim’s early novels on the cultural clashes between the East and the West. Provides insights into the dramatist’s views.

Hourani, Albert. Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1798–1939. 1962. Cambridge UP, 1983. Provides a clear explanation of al-Hakim’s place in Egyptian literature.

Long, Richard. Tawfiq al-Hakim: Playwright of Egypt. Ithaca Press, 1979. One of the most complete biographical sketches of al-Hakim, with a thorough review of all of his major works.

Safran, Nadav. Egypt in Search of Political Community: An Analysis of the Intellectual and Political Evolution of Egypt, 1804–1952. Harvard UP, 1961. Useful for understanding the interconnections between social and political change and Arabic intellectual movements.

Starkey, Paul. From the Ivory Tower: A Critical Study of Tawfiq al-Hakim. Ithaca for the Middle East Centre, St. Antony’s College, Oxford, 1987. A monograph. Includes an index and a bibliography.

Starkey, Paul. “Tawfiq al-Hakim.” African Writers, edited by C. Brian Cox, vol. 1, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1997. A concise overview of al-Hakim’s life and works.