LITERATURE AND NATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

jeff shalanis questioned, the educated and cultured Saniya is an emblem of the newEgyptian woman; and since Muhsin is in the company of his aunt, the invitationis deemed acceptable. Saniya’s effect on Muhsin is quickly apparent. In schoolthe next day, he first explains to his friends, against their objections, why he haschosen the arts over the sciences:I don’t care about money and wealth … Tomorrow we’re going to be the eloquenttongue of the nation … Our occupation tomorrow will be to give expression to whatis in the heart of the entire people … If you knew the value of the ability to expresswhat is in the soul … to express what is in the hearts … Think of the maxim in ourbook of memory pieces: ‘A man is known by two of his smallest parts: his heart andhis tongue’ … The nation too has a heart to guide and a tongue to direct the materialforces within it … Wealth by itself is nothing. (79)Then, later in class, when the teacher asks Muhsin to speak extemporaneouslyon a topic of his choice, he can think of only one: love. His choicecreates a minor scandal in the classroom, but after much insistence from hispeers, the teacher allows him to proceed:The class fixed their eyes on Muhsin … It seemed they were hearing something theyhad all sensed for a long time but had not dared express, or realized they felt … beingignorant of the existence of beauty in the world. They were ignorant of the heart’srole in their lives … They did not know the sublime meaning of life. Muhsin felt thatabout them. He also felt that the secret of their amazing attentiveness and overwhelmingpleasure with him and what he was saying to them clearly visible in theireyes was based on a single thing: he was expressing what was in their hearts. (81–2)Obviously, Muhsin is also expressing the feeling that has suddenly claimedhis own heart in the presence of Saniya’s beauty. And when he visits her againlater the same day, the mythic import of her inspirational beauty is madeexplicit: ‘A picture came to Muhsin’s mind. It was one he looked at frequentlyin the year’s text for ancient Egyptian history and one he loved a great deal …That picture was of a woman. Her hair was cut short too and was a gleamingblack as well … and rounded like an ebony moon: Isis!’ (86). The aspiring artistthus seems to have found in his love for Saniya the mythical key to the nation’sheart and the fulfilment of his own desire to be its voice.But Saniya’s role here as the generative matrix of the solidarity that Muhsinestablishes among his peers is called into question through his private responseto this sudden presence of love in his life. Returning home after their initialmeeting, Muhsin went straight to bed, seeking the solitude and independencewhich only a person with a private room can feel.For the first time Muhsin resented that style of living: five individuals in a singleroom. For the first time he felt exasperated by that communal living which hadalways been a source of happiness, contentment, and joy for everyone; … Muhsin hidhis head under the covers. He attempted to block out the cold, merciless sound of his— 148 —www.taq.ir