Dialogues of Naguib Mahfouz: Gibran's riddle By Mohamed Salmawy People who knew Naguib Mahfouz often send me letters sharing memories of the great novelist. A recent letter is by former assistant interior minister General Wagih Issa, who was present at the police hospital when Mahfouz was receiving medical treatment in 1994, after the attack upon him, perpetrated by extremists in November of that year. Here are excerpts: "The first man to arrive at the hospital the day following the attack was the Swedish ambassador to Cairo, who brought with him a bouquet of flowers in the same colours of his country's flag. The first person to be allowed to visit Mahfouz in intensive care, was yourself, upon his request. Two days after the incident, he received a visit by Egypt's first lady, which greatly lifted his spirits. "Security services managed to find and arrest the attackers in less than a week. General Hassan El-Alfi, then interior minister, came by to check on the great writer and give him the news. After the minister left, Mahfouz turned to me and said: 'People think I would be happy with this news. No, by God, those kids have been brainwashed and misled. May God help them see the light.' "I and the management of the hospital arranged several sessions for the friends of Naguib Mahfouz -- also known as the Harafish -- in his room after he came out of intensive care. I attended some of these sessions and they were quite entertaining. I remember that Mahfouz posed a question in the form of a riddle. He said that the great poet Gibran Khalil Gibran was once sitting on Mount Lebanon when he saw a beautiful girl and said a line of poetry about her. 'Does anyone know it?' he asked. When no one answered, Mahfouz went on to say that Gibran looked at the girl and saw that her hair was long and soft and that she wore a necklace with a cross. So the poet said: 'Cross of Christ on her bosom/ prayers of the Prophet on her hair.'"
