Naguib Mahfouz's Short Story 'Zaabalawi'

Mystic traditions believe that a direct connection with God and the ultimate reality of spiritual fulfillment can only be attained within one’s self. In a world ruled by the greed of materialism and filled with sin and sickness, it becomes so simple for people to get lost in their search for spiritual fulfillment. In Naguib Mahfouz’s short story “Zaabalawi” he uses several literary devices to demonstrate the obstacles that one may face during their search for divinity all while encountering different characters’ personas who eventually lead him away from the practical and towards the fulfillment of spirituality. In examining this text, I will show how Naguib Mahfouz, with his use of personification, metaphors, similes, ironies, and allusion, was able to spread his message using symbolism. To begin, the story is told by an unknown narrator in a 1st person point of view, which some say Mahfouz did on purpose to keep from the distraction of his message. This is shown in the opening line of …show more content…
Throughout the entire story, the narrator did not realize this this cure he was searching for was within himself and that the only thing stopping him from finding it was himself. The narrator was unable to recognize that Zaabalawi was inside him the entire time in the form of a sacred inner peace. While he was asleep at the bar, he was able to feel what it was like to finally find Zaabalawi, but lost it as soon as he had awaken returning to his state of doubt once again. Mahfouz based this entire story on the narrator’s search of the unknown which translates to a symbol of finding peace within one’s self before searching for an outside source to “cure” yourself. The narrator spent an entire journey looking for Zaabalawi when if he had just opened his eyes, he would have realized Zaabalawi was inside of him waiting for him to recognize it. Ironic isn’t