Midaq Alley

Not exactly Midaq Alley but what I imagined it to be.

Egyptian Nobel prize winner for literature Naguib Mahfouz died yesterday morning at the age of 95. Athough it was not his books that first sparked my interest in Middle Eastern literature, he did play an intricate part in keeping the flame burning. Reading his books before arriving in Egypt and intentionally getting lost in Islamic Cairo's alleyways gave me a greater feel for his works. Yes, the very same alleys which he grew up in, and the very same alleys in which he based most of his works. I mourn the passing of a brilliant writer. A writer is much more than just a master of words, he is a master of emotions, colour, light, sound and the senses. Naguib Mahfouz was and will always be, a reminder of what mankind has lost to fundamentalism.