respect for the wishes of your subjects. Therefore, people have been amazed that your advisers have not sided with the Nation at this critical time. That is what is requested of you, O wisest of the descendants of our great liberator Muhammad Ali, so that you will be the mainstay in the achievement of the Nation’s independence, no matter what the cost to you. Your zeal is too lofty to be limited by the circumstances. How did it escape the attention of your advisers that Rushdi Pasha’s resignation guarantees that no patriotic Egyptian will agree to replace him? How did it escape them that a cabinet dedicated to programs contrary to the wishes of the people is destined to fail?
'Pardon, Your Majesty, if our intervention in this affair seems inappropriate. In other circumstances perhaps it would be, but the matter has now gone beyond consideration of any concern other than the good of the Nation, of which you are the faithful servant. Our Sovereign holds the highest position in the country and therefore holds the greatest responsibility for it. The greatest hopes are placed in him. We will not be misrepresenting our advice to him if we implore him to take into account the views of his Nation before reaching a final decision regarding the current crisis. We affirm to His Majesty that there is no one among his subjects, from one end of the country to the other, who does not seek independence. Obstruction of the Nation’s request is a weighty responsibility which Your Majesty’s advisers did not consider with the necessary care. Therefore, our duty to serve our country and our loyalty to Our Sovereign have compelled us to bring to the attention of His Majesty the feelings of his Nation, which hopes fervently for independence now and greatly fears what the agents of the colonial party may do to it. The Nation has a right, which it seeks to exercise, for its sovereign to be angry when it is angry and for him to side with it. This is the goal the Nation has chosen… And God is capable of granting that…'
Yasin raised his head from the handbill. There was an astonished look in his eyes and his heart pounded with a new excitement. He shook his head and exclaimed, 'What a letter!.. I doubt I would be able to send anything like that to the headmaster of my school without being severely punished'.
Fahmy shrugged his shoulders disdainfully and said, 'The matter has now gone beyond consideration of any concern other than the good of the Nation'. He repeated the words from memory, just as they appeared in the handbill.
Yasin could not keep himself from laughing. He observed, 'You've memorized the handbill… but that doesn't surprise me. You seem to have been waiting all your life for a movement like this in order to throw your whole heart into it. Although I may share your feelings and hopes, I'm not happy about your holding on to this handbill, especially after the cabinet has resigned and martial law has been proclaimed'.
Fahmy said proudly, 'I'm not just keeping it. I'm distributing it as much as I can'.
Yasin’s eyes widened in astonishment. He started to speak, but the mother spoke first. She said with alarm, 'I can scarcely believe my ears. How can you expose yourself to danger when you're such an intelligent person?'
Fahmy did not know how to answer her. He felt the awkwardness of the situation his recklessness had created. Nothing could be more difficult for him than discussing this matter with her. He was closer to the heavens than he was to convincing her that he had a duty to expose himself to danger for the sake of the nation. In her eyes, the nation was not worth the clippings from his fingernail. The expulsion of the English from Egypt seemed easier to him than persuading her of the necessity of expelling them or inducing her to hate them. Whenever the subject came up in a conversation she would remark quite simply, 'Why do you despise them, son?… Aren't they people like us with sons and mothers?'
Fahmy would reply sharply, 'But they're occupying our country'.
She would sense the bitter anger in his voice and fall silent. There would be a veiled look of concern in her eyes that would have said if it could have spoken, 'Don't be like that'.
Once when he was exasperated by her reasoning, he had told her, 'A people ruled by foreigners has no life'.
She had replied in astonishment, 'But we're still alive, even though they've been ruling us for a long time. I bore all of you under their rule. Son, they don't kill us and they don't interfere with the mosques. The community of Muhammad is still thriving'.
The young man had said in despair, 'If our master, Muhammad, were alive, he would not consent to being ruled by the English'.
She had responded sagaciously, 'That’s true, but what are we compared to the Prophet, peace and blessings on him?… God sent His angels to assist him'.
He had cried out furiously, 'Sa'd Zaghlul will do what the angels used to'.
She had raised her arms as though trying to fend off an irresistible calamity and shouted, 'Ask your Lord’s forgiveness. O God, Your mercy and forgiveness!'
That was what she was like. How could he answer her now that she had realized the danger threatening him because he was distributing the handbill? All he could do was resort to lying. Pretending to dismiss the matter lightly, he said, 'I was just joking. There’s nothing for you to be alarmed about'.
The woman spoke again entreatingly, 'This is what I believe, son. How I would hate for my hopes in the person with the best sense of all to be disappointed… And what business of ours are these affairs? If the pashas think the English should be expelled from Egypt, let them expel the English themselves'.
Throughout the conversation, Kamal had been trying to remember something important. When the conversation reached this point, he shouted, 'Our Arabic language teacher told us yesterday that nations gain their independence through the decisive actions of their sons'.
The mother cried out in annoyance, 'Perhaps he meant big pupils. Didn't you tell me once that some of the other pupils already have mustaches?'
Kamal asked innocently, 'Isn't my brother Fahmy a big pupil?'
His mother replied with unaccustomed sharpness, 'Certainly not! Your brother’s not an adult. I'm amazed at that teacher. How could he have succumbed to the temptation of discussing something with you that wasn't part of the lesson? If he really wants to be a nationalist, he should address such talk to his sons at home, not to other people’s children'.
This conversation would have grown progressively more heated had not a chance remark intervened to change its direction. Zaynab wanted to gain her mother-in-law’s approval by supporting her. She attacked the teacher and called him 'a despicable mosque student to whom the government gave a responsible position despite the changing times'.
The moment the mother heard this insult aimed at students in Islamic universities like al-Azhar, she was distracted from her former concerns. She refused to let the remark slip by unchallenged, even though it had been said to support her. She turned to Zaynab and said calmly, 'Daughter, you are disparaging the best thing about him. The religious shaykhs carry on the work of God’s messengers. The man is to be blamed for exceeding the boundaries of his noble calling. He should have contented himself with being a student at a mosque and a religious scholar'.
Yasin was not blind to the secret behind his stepmother’s change of direction. He quickly intervened to erase the bad impression left by his wife’s innocent remark.
53
'Look at the street. Look at the people. After all this, who could say that the catastrophe hasn't taken place?'
Al-Sayyid Ahmad did not need to look. Everyone was asking about the event and trembling. His friends plunged into heated discussions in which grief, sorrow, and anger played equal parts. The news was repeated by everyone, friends and customers alike. They all agreed that Sa'd Zaghlul and his closest associates had been arrested and transported to an unknown location, either in Cairo or outside it.
Mr. Muhammad Iffat, his face flushed with anger, said, 'Don't question the accuracy of the rumor. Bad news has a stench that stops up the nose. Wasn't this to be expected after the Wafd’s letter to the Sultan?… And after Sa'd’s rejection of the British threats with that stupendous letter to the British cabinet?'
Al-Sayyid Ahmad said despondently, 'They arrest the great pashas… What a terrifying event! What do you suppose they'll do with them?'
'Only God knows. The country is stifling under the shadow of martial law'.
