Response to Naguib Mahfouz' "Arabian Nights & Days"

Naguib Mahfouz' Arabian Nights & Days is not so much a cohesive novel as a collection of short stories recounting events that are often seem mythical or fantastic.  The collection of stories and myths deals with both natural and supernatural characters, often mentioning the interactions between humans and genies and raises questions about the freewill of human beings as they are manipulated by powerful supernatural or fantastical beings.  In many ways, the questions of choice and freewill seem to me of central importance to Mahfouz' collection of tales, and perhaps the primary question we are meant to ask is whether or not we truly have control over our actions and even our destinies.

Without detailing the plot of each shorter story that makes up Arabian Night and Days, it is safe to say that the vast majority of the collection deals with genies manipulating human beings do commit various crimes and engage in activities that they would not normally engage in.  The first tale in collection that deals with the influence of a genie is that of Sanaan al-Gamali, a mild-mannered merchant who is asked by a genie to kill the governer of quarter after he steps on a genie while walking home one night. The genie Sanaan al-Gamali the option of dying instantly instead, but out of concern for his family and a desire to live, al-Gamali chooses to make an agreement with the genie and carry out the murder so that he might escape death at the hands of the genie.  After making this agreement, al-Gamali becomes inceasingly hostile and unlike himself.  His family and his business associates soon notice the marked change in his demeanor, but nothing the influence of the genie is strong, and al-Gamali seems to slip into a kind of madness.  In one the more shocking passages in Mahfouz' collection of tales, al-Gamali rapes and murders a young girl in the midst of some sort of violent, lustful trance. 

Many of the other tales in Arabian Night and Days also include violent acts committed by humans who are influenced to commit such crimes by manipulative genies, and it is relatively easy to view the genies as some definite force of evil, existing only to tempt, manipulate, and otherwise destroy humanity.  I do not think, however, that Mahfouz intends to convey such a simple message as "genies are evil."  The fact that the humans in Mahfouz' tales have the ability to choose is easy to miss yet crucially important to understanding the series of stories and their overarching theme.  Humans are certainly manipulated by genies in these tales and made to commit actions they would never commit on their own, but their obedience to evil is the result of conscious choice, and though the motivators for obeying the genies are strong, it seems, perhaps, that death at the hand of a genie might be the morally preferable course of action when compared to the murders, rapes, and other terrible crimes committed under the influence of the genies' power.  These tales are so much about choice and freewill, in fact, that it seems appropriate to question whether the "insanity" of the human characters is truly the result of some sort of possession or evil influence.  Perhaps at least part of the insanity exhibited by Mahfouz' characters exists within their own minds; their fears, their passions, and yes, their freewill.

The setting of Arabian Night and Days is never explicitly mentioned, and perhaps the fact that his information is undisclosed to the reader suggests Mahfouz' desire to say something of universal significance.  Though we do not live in isolation from outside influences, our actions are ultimately the result of an internal choice, not an outside force.  Mahfouz' tales are not a denial of the existence of the fantastical, the supernatural, or any other influence that might cause a change in human actions, but they are an affirmation of the importance of choice, and a reminder that our actions are always a choice.