Our old house
By
Naguib Mahfouz
Our old house in Gamaleya was constructed beautifully, built in authentic Arab style. Its facade was adorned by two large mashrabeyas that appear before my eyes in all their intricate detail even as I speak.
The house was not large but it had three floors. Each floor could accommodate only two rooms. We therefore led a vertical, rather than horizontal, life. On the first floor stood the mesafreen (literally travellers') room, where visitors from outside Cairo could stay over. My own room was on the second floor, next to my mother's. On the third floor lived my brothers and sisters -- the boys in one room, the girls in another -- until marriage transported them to other houses. I also remember the roof, to which I would often ascend to contemplate the minaret of Al-Hussein Mosque during the sunset. In Ramadan I would stand there until I heard the call to prayer, then I would quickly go back down to break my fast. I must have been seven.
After we left Gamaleya for Abbasiyya, I went back a couple of times to inspect the house. The first time it had been converted into a cafeteria. The second time it had been completely demolished and replaced by an ugly concrete building.
I never went back again
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy
