store to a Moroccan or a Greek. Only last night, some hoodlums caught three drunken Englishmen and beat them and stole their money. A police force from Kom al-Dikka came and dragged everyone to the governorate headquarters and beat them on the back of the neck until they almost went blind.” He laughed and added, “I was there—I went to the governorate because they’d arrested one of my workers. There was this Indian soldier there who really upset me—he stood there saying ‘Again, again,’ as the the secret police were beating the men. Can you imagine that? An Indian! I wanted to tell him that Gandhi was starving himself to death so that people like him would become real human beings, not lackeys to the English.”
“And then?”
“They let the people go, of course. The hoodlums were long gone.”
“Everyone’s turn will come,” remarked Zahra.
Blessed William took a long look at her and said, “You are good-hearted.”
An old woman with heavy make-up and bright yellow dyed hair passed in front of the store. She was carrying a cheap red leather handbag and wearing a short skirt and a pair of sheer red stockings, through which the green veins of her legs showed. Zahra recoiled and Blessed William said, “One day the land will be cleansed.”
Sitt Maryam could not tell Zahra that in that neighborhood, at the end of the street where they had walked and in the narrow alleys, many women were prostitutes. Zahra must have figured that out for herself, but she had begun to feel a little pain in her breasts, and drops of milk were leaking from her nipples and staining her gallabiya. She had to buy what she needed quickly so that she could hurry back to her baby daughter.
“On our way back we’ll buy the fabric and cotton for the mattress and pillows,” Sitt Maryam told her. “Tomorrow you’ll have the furniture of a bride, God bless it.”
But Zahra, desperate for anything that would give her happiness, still felt ill at ease and afraid of the city.
“I want a sane man to consult about a problem.”
“The only sane man in our city is this madman.”
Jalal al-Din Rumi
6
Did Alexander know that he was building not just a city to immortalize his name, but a whole world and a whole history? Probably: he was concerned not just with immortality, but with changing the world.
The distance from Pharos Island, now Anfushi, to Rhakotis, now Karmuz, took one hour on foot. It must have taken the same amount of time in the old days, because there were no buildings to walk around. The land was flat and sandy. Therefore when Alexander stopped his horse in Rhakotis, he was able to see the farthest spot in the sea, Pharos, and he decided to connect the two points—but he died before that was done. It was Ptolemy I and his successor, Ptolemy II, who actually finished building the city. Alexander had laid the city’s foundation stone and delegated the task of planning to Dinocrates, a skilled architect. He planned it like a chessboard, with streets running straight from north to south intersected by straight east-west streets. Why did he plan it like a chessboard? Did he intend for it to be a stage for playing and dying? Its inhabitants, under Augustus, after the death of Antony and Cleopatra, numbered three hundred thousand free citizens and an equal number of slaves. But Alexandrians were fond of cockfights and writing verses that made fun of the rulers. That was why, when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it, its inhabitants numbered only eight thousand.
Since then, Alexandria has raced against time, expanding and becoming crowded with strangers from everywhere. It became a real port. Palaces were erected in the space between Ras al-Tin and Abu al-Abbas. Muhammad Ali dug the Mahmudiya canal. The Jewish architect Manshi drew up the plan to develop Alexandria, a process that continued under the reign of Muhammad Ali’s sons, Ibrahim, Said, and Ismail. As the number of foreigners increased, they went east to the vacant
“And then?”
“They let the people go, of course. The hoodlums were long gone.”
“Everyone’s turn will come,” remarked Zahra.
Blessed William took a long look at her and said, “You are good-hearted.”
An old woman with heavy make-up and bright yellow dyed hair passed in front of the store. She was carrying a cheap red leather handbag and wearing a short skirt and a pair of sheer red stockings, through which the green veins of her legs showed. Zahra recoiled and Blessed William said, “One day the land will be cleansed.”
Sitt Maryam could not tell Zahra that in that neighborhood, at the end of the street where they had walked and in the narrow alleys, many women were prostitutes. Zahra must have figured that out for herself, but she had begun to feel a little pain in her breasts, and drops of milk were leaking from her nipples and staining her gallabiya. She had to buy what she needed quickly so that she could hurry back to her baby daughter.
“On our way back we’ll buy the fabric and cotton for the mattress and pillows,” Sitt Maryam told her. “Tomorrow you’ll have the furniture of a bride, God bless it.”
But Zahra, desperate for anything that would give her happiness, still felt ill at ease and afraid of the city.
“I want a sane man to consult about a problem.”
“The only sane man in our city is this madman.”
Jalal al-Din Rumi
6
Did Alexander know that he was building not just a city to immortalize his name, but a whole world and a whole history? Probably: he was concerned not just with immortality, but with changing the world.
The distance from Pharos Island, now Anfushi, to Rhakotis, now Karmuz, took one hour on foot. It must have taken the same amount of time in the old days, because there were no buildings to walk around. The land was flat and sandy. Therefore when Alexander stopped his horse in Rhakotis, he was able to see the farthest spot in the sea, Pharos, and he decided to connect the two points—but he died before that was done. It was Ptolemy I and his successor, Ptolemy II, who actually finished building the city. Alexander had laid the city’s foundation stone and delegated the task of planning to Dinocrates, a skilled architect. He planned it like a chessboard, with streets running straight from north to south intersected by straight east-west streets. Why did he plan it like a chessboard? Did he intend for it to be a stage for playing and dying? Its inhabitants, under Augustus, after the death of Antony and Cleopatra, numbered three hundred thousand free citizens and an equal number of slaves. But Alexandrians were fond of cockfights and writing verses that made fun of the rulers. That was why, when Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it, its inhabitants numbered only eight thousand.
Since then, Alexandria has raced against time, expanding and becoming crowded with strangers from everywhere. It became a real port. Palaces were erected in the space between Ras al-Tin and Abu al-Abbas. Muhammad Ali dug the Mahmudiya canal. The Jewish architect Manshi drew up the plan to develop Alexandria, a process that continued under the reign of Muhammad Ali’s sons, Ibrahim, Said, and Ismail. As the number of foreigners increased, they went east to the vacant
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