appealing to the mind and speak of socialism in Islam? Even reactionaries feel obliged to borrow our vocabulary. If they pull off a revolution before we do, they will realize at least some of our objectives. They will not be able to stop time's progressive motion to the prescribed goal. Besides, the spread of learning is as liable to banish them as light is to discourage bats.'
Khadija observed the manifestations of this strange fervor with an astonishment mingled with anger and resentment. She finally complained to her husband, 'I've never seen homes like Abd al-Muni'm's and Ahmad's. Perhaps, without telling me, they've converted their apartments into coffeehouses. Not an evening passes without the street being crowded with visitors, some bearded and some who probably aren't even Muslims. I've never heard the likes of this.'
The man shook his head, remarking, 'The time has evidently come for you to hear it.'
She snapped back, 'Their salaries aren't big enough to pay for all the coffee they serve.'
'Have they complained to you about being short of money?'
'What about the neighbors? What will they say when they see these droves of people going in and out?'
'Everyone's free to do what he wants in his own home.'
She huffed: 'The sound of their interminable discussions is loud enough at times to be heard in the street.'
'So let it be heard down on the street or up in the sky.'
Khadija sighed profoundly and struck her hands together.
165
At Abd Al-Rahim Pasha Isa's villa in Helwan, they were seeing out the last wave of the visitors who had come to say goodbye to him before his departure for the holy places of the Hijaz.
'Pilgrimage is an aspiration I've long nourished. God curse politics, for that's what has kept me from going, year after year. But a man my age must think about preparing for his forthcoming encounter with his Lord.'
Ali Mihran, the pasha's deputy, said, 'Yes, God curse politics!'
The pasha's feeble eyes looked thoughtfully at Ridwan and Hilmi. He commented, 'Say what you like, but it has done me a favor I shall never forget. It has distracted me from my loneliness. An old bachelor like me would seek companionship even in hell.'
Raising his eyebrows playfully, Ali Mihran asked, 'Haven't we distracted you, Pasha?'
'Of course you have, but a bachelor's day is as long as a winter's night. A man needs a companion. I admit that a woman is an important necessity. I think often of my mother now. A woman is necessary, even for a person who does not desire her.'
Thinking about quite different issues, Ridwan suddenly asked the pasha, 'Suppose that al-Nahhas Pasha falls from power. Wouldn't you change your mind about leaving then?'
Waving his hand indignantly, the pasha replied, 'Let that disgrace stay in power, at least until I get back from my pilgrimage'. Then, shaking his head, he added, 'We are all to blame, but pilgrimage washes away sins.'
Hilmi Izzat laughed and observed, 'You're a Believer, Pasha, even if that fact perplexes many people.'
'Why? Belief is broad-minded. Only a hypocrite claims to be absolutely pure. It's foolish to suppose that a man commits sins only when belief is dead. Besides, our sins are more like innocent child's play.'
Sighing with relief, Ali Mihran said, 'What a beautiful statement! Now let me tell you frankly that I've often felt your determination to perform the pilgrimage to be a sinister omen. I've asked myself, 'Do you think this means repentance? Will it put an end to our pleasures?''
The pasha laughed so hard that the upper half of his body shook. 'You're a devil and the son of one. Would all of you really be sad to learn that I have repented?'
Hilmi groaned: 'Like a woman whose newborn babe is slain in her arms.'
Abd al-Rahim Pasha laughed again and exclaimed, 'Shame on you! Bastards! If a man like me were truly to repent, he would have to preveat himself from seeing beautiful eyes and rosy cheeks and dedicate himself instead to visiting the tomb of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace.'
Mihrs. n gloated: 'In the Hijaz? Do you know what things are like there? I've heard from people who know. It will be out of the frying pan and into the fire for you.'
Hilmi Izzat protested, 'Perhaps it's just false propaganda like that spread by the English. In all of the Hijaz is there a face like Ridwan's?'
Abd al-Rahim Isa cried out, 'Not even in paradise!' Then, as if experier cing a change of heart, he added, 'But, you naughty boys, we were discussing repentance.'
Ali Mihran said, 'Not so fast, Pasha! You told me once about a mystic who repented seventy times. Doesn't this imply that he sinned seventy times?'
'Or a hundred?' Ridwan interjected.
Ali Mihran said, 'I'm satisfied with seventy.'
The pasha's face beamed with joy as he asked, 'Will we live long enough for that?'
'May our Lord grant you a long life, Pasha. Set our minds at ease and tell us it's your first repentance.'
'And the last!'
'Vain boasting! If you provoke me, when you return from the pilgrimage I'll meet you with a moon-faced beauty, or several of them, and then we'll see how long your repentance lasts.'
Smiling, the pasha said, 'The result will be as ugly as your face, you jinx. You're a devil, Mihran an indispensable devil.'
'I praise God for that.'
Almost in unison, Ridwan and Hilmi added, 'We praise Him too.'
The pasha said with proud delight, 'You're my favorite companions. What value would life have without affection and friendship? Life is beautiful. Beauty is beautiful. Musical ecstasy is beautiful. Forgiveness is beautiful. You're young and look at the world from a special perspective. Life will teach you a lot. I love you and the world. I'm visiting God's sanctuary to give thanks, to ask forgiveness, and to seek guidance.'
Ridwan observed merrily, 'How handsome you are! You exude such serenity.'
Ali Mihran remarked slyly, 'With only a little friction, he'd exude something quite different. Pasha, you truly have been the mentor of an entire generation.'
'And you're Satan himself, you son of a crone. My God if I'm ever called to account, I'll point to you and that will be an adequate excuse.'
'Me! Unjustly accused, by God! I'm just an obedient servant.'
'No, you're a devil.'
'But an indispensable one?'
Laughing, the pasha answered, 'Yes, you scoundrel.'
'In your busy life I have represented and still do a touching melody, a pretty face, and constantly renewed happiness, your perfidious excellency.'
The pasha moaned: 'The old days! Children, why do we grow old? May your wisdom be exalted and glorified, my Lord. A poet said: My lance was not deflected by a foe's taunts. Auspicious times for it were dawn and dusk both'.
Wiggling his eyebrows, Mihran said, ' 'By a foe's taunts'? No, you should say, 'By Mihran.' '
'You son of a bitch don't spoil the mood with your nonsense. It's not right to joke around when we're reminiscing about those beautiful days. At times tears are more becoming than a smile, more humane, and more respectful. Listen to this too, by al-A'sha: She rebuffed me, but the Events she rejected Were baldness and white hair.
What do you think of the poet's use of'events'?'
Imitating a newspaper vendor, Mihran called out, 'Events of the Day, the Egyptian, al-Ahram…'
Despairingly the pasha said, 'It's not your fault but…'
'Yours!'
'Mine? I'm not to blame for your depravity. When we first met, you were so debauched that Satan would have envied you. But I won't allow you to spoil the ambiance created by these memories. Yes, hear this as well: Just as
