Influences: A Review of The Days by
Taha Hussein, pt. 1

July 3, 2006

Taha Hussein (1889-1973) was an Egyptian public intellectual whose work I have long wanted to explore. The Days is a three part autobiography.. each part originally published as a separate book. The first of these three books was entitled An Egyptian Childhood.. which covers his childhood years in a small village in Upper Egypt. Early in this trip I mentioned looking out the window of my train and wondering about life in the small villages that rushed past..

What was the intellectual horizon in such a village? The answer to that question must be that the horizon was both constricted and wide open. It was constricted since it was unfailingly parochial and local.. but it was wide open since Hussein managed to find genuine depth there. I was reminded of Abraham Lincoln, actually. Like Taha Hussein, the young Lincoln grew up in a rural and—yes—with a constricted intellectual horizon.. but he nevertheless distilled wisdom from all he came across. Neither man in his youth read widely.. but both read deeply.

So what exactly were these local influences? First, a world of oral storytelling which I think modern Americans can hardly imagine. Recalling some of his earliest memories, he writes:

Then he remembers how he used to like to go out of the house at sunset when people were having their evening meal, and used to lean against the maize fence pondering deep in thought until he was recalled by the voice of a poet who was sitting at some distance to his left, with his audience round him. Then the poet would begin to recite in a wonderfully sweet tone the doings of Abu Zaid, Khalifa and Diab, and his hearers would remain silent except when ecstasy enlivened them or desire startled them. Then they would demand a repetition and argue and dispute. [10]

It's not the children's section at a local bookstore, but a living and breathing world of stories. At one point Hussein even tells how stories could be used as an exchange: when he was put in charge of listening to other young pupils recite the Qur'an, he often allowed himself to be bribed with stories he had not heard, or with a book (34).

A second influence was the Qur'an.. Any large book (the size of the New Testament) that is committed to memory must leave its mark. Oddly, despite the seriousness of the Qur'an, the chapters that detail the process of memorization are as close as the book comes to comedy. Hussein learns the holy book, but then when called upon by his father to recite, completely forgets it.. and must memorize it for a second time. Always there are the schemes of the boy to avoid this work, and the schemes of his teacher to get money.

The Qur'an ceases to be a a matter for games when near the end of this book Hussein recounts the death of his younger sister and older brother. The Qur'an is no longer a chore, it is comfort:

From that day our lad's outlook on life was completely changed. He really knew God and was at great pains to draw near to Him by every possible means, from alms-giving to earnest prayer and the recitation of the Qur'an... From that day the lad knew what night vigils were, for many a time he would spend the dark hours of a whole night, either thinking about his brother or reciting Surat al-Ikhlas [chapter of Qur'an] thousands of times. [78-9]

Like every great scripture of a religious tradition, the Qur'an came to provide the words for deep emotions and stirrings. Its lofty language and theme becomes a comfort.

A third influence which can be traced in this book is that of the Sufis. I was struck by a passage in which Hussein described a Zikr:

They start the Zikr sitting in silence. Then they begin to move their heads and raise their voices a little. Then a shudder runs through their bodies and lo! they are all standing, having leapt into the air like jacks-in-the-boxes. . The sheikhs move about the circle, reciting the poetry of Ibn Farid and similar poems. [54]

I have read the poetry of Ibn Farid from books, as words on paper, but here is a description as to how these lines worked in a social context. The Zikr is the key for this experience, and single lines are repeated over and over. To return to the bookstore comparison: this is not a book of poetry sitting on the shelves of a local bookstore.. this is performance..

Hussein is clear about the depth of this Sufi influence:

Now the connection of the family with one of the Sufi sects was strong and lasting. It left among them many lasting traces in the way of information, stories and talk about miracles and supernatural events. [56]

Sufi tales about "miracles and supernatural events" brought with them credence in magic and superstitions. This portrait of village life is not one rife with fanaticism and fundamentalism, but with the permutations of popular religious belief. Sadly, Hussein's blindness may be a result of these popular beliefs and skepticism toward medicine. The account is quite short:

In this way our lad lost his eyesight. Opthamalia attacked him, but he was neglected for some days. Then the barber was called in, and he treated him in a way that resulted in the loss of his sight. [71]

A western reader might here be tempted to feel sorry for Hussein.. but that is not what he is asking for. His loss of eyesight may have been a result of ignorance, but his rich internal life.. radiating out to a lifetime of intellectual endeavor.. took root and found nourishment in that same "ignorance".. which from Hussein's account begins to look like the richest kind of soil.