{"product_id":"what-isa-ibn-hisham-told-us-9781479862252","title":"What ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith \u003ci\u003eWhat ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us\u003c\/i\u003e, the Library of Arabic Literature brings readers an acknowledged masterpiece of early twentieth-century Arabic prose. Penned by the Egyptian journalist Muḥammad al-Muwayliḥī, this exceptional title was first introduced in serialized form in his family’s pioneering newspaper \u003ci\u003eMiṣbāḥ al-Sharq \u003c\/i\u003e(\u003ci\u003eLight of the East\u003c\/i\u003e), on which this edition is based, and later published in book form in 1907. Widely hailed for its erudition and its mordant wit, \u003ci\u003eWhat ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us\u003c\/i\u003e was embraced by Egypt’s burgeoning reading public and soon became required reading for generations of Egyptian school students.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBridging classical genres and the emerging tradition of modern Arabic fiction, \u003ci\u003eWhat ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us\u003c\/i\u003e is divided into two parts, the second of which was only added to the text with the fourth edition of 1927. Sarcastic in tone and critical in outlook, the book relates the excursions of its narrator ʿĪsā ibn Hishām\u003cbr\u003e and his companion, the Pasha, through a rapidly Westernized Cairo at the height of British occupation, providing vivid commentary of a society negotiating—however imperfectly—the clash of imported cultural values and traditional norms of conduct, law, and education. The “Second Journey” takes the narrator to Paris to visit the Exposition Universelle of 1900, where al-Muwayliḥī casts the same relentlessly critical eye on European society, modernity, and the role of Western imperialism as it ripples across the globe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaving the way for the modern Arabic novel, \u003ci\u003eWhat ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us\u003c\/i\u003e is invaluable both for its sociological insight into colonial Egypt and its pioneering role in Arabic literary history.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA bilingual Arabic-English edition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Muḥammad al-Muwayliḥī","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48274305188091,"sku":"9781479862252","price":52.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_767c0327-75a5-4846-9046-a87434b661ad.jpg?v=1771044399","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/what-isa-ibn-hisham-told-us-9781479862252","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}