“An Idea and a Smile” by Yahya Haqqi
Context and Literary Significance
At a glance: First published in 1962, An Idea and a Smile brings together 22 pieces (which Haqqi himself called “tableaux”) divided into three sections: thirteen in the first, seven in the second, and two short stories in the third. The collection blends sharp humor with a bitter undertone, exposing the social distortions and injustices of mid-twentieth-century Egypt.
The author: Yahya Haqqi (1905–1992) is considered a pioneer of the modern Arabic short story. Drawing inspiration from the lives of ordinary people—particularly the urban poor and rural communities of Upper Egypt—his work is marked by unflinching realism and a keen moral sensitivity.
Historical backdrop: Written in the early 1960s, a period of political and social upheaval in Egypt, the essays probe the consequences of class inequality and the exploitation of the weak with biting wit.
Structure and Satirical Style
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Division of the book
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Part One: Focuses on the oppression of women and servants, as in “Faten” and “A Sting Worse than a Slap,” which depict the psychological and material torment endured by maids.
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Part Two: Turns to popular culture, such as “The Axe and the Tree,” mocking intellectual backwardness, and “Seven in a Boat,” highlighting human contradictions.
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Part Three: Offers personal reflections, as in “Confessions Only a Friend Should Hear,” where Haqqi admits his lack of formal scholarship and credits his life experiences as the source of his literary voice.
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Satire as a weapon
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The bitter smile: Haqqi described these pieces as far from gentle; beneath the smile lies outrage at injustice. In “Five Piastres,” a laundress has her wage cut because she washed handkerchiefs she hadn’t been asked to—an ironic commentary on the cheapening of labor.
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Wordplay and irony: In “Ten Kilos Carrying Ten Kilos,” a stout woman sneers at fellow passengers, while the title itself underscores the moral weight of her hypocrisy.
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A Portrait of Egyptian Society
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Exploitation of the vulnerable
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Maids as victims: In “Faten,” a servant is forced to abandon a baby in the street for a paltry monthly wage, even wishing the child’s death to be freed from suffering. Haqqi observes, “The maid accepted it meekly, and prayed for long life and prosperity.”
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Orphans and humiliation: In “A Sting Worse than a Slap,” an orphan boy is publicly shamed for wearing a suit above his station, crying out, “If only I had died before hearing those words!”
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Social hypocrisy and class divisions
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The duplicity of the wealthy: In “Ladies and Misses,” a woman condemns smoking in public but indulges in secret, exposing the double standards of her class.
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Economic exploitation: “Five Piastres” lays bare how employers justify trimming the already meager pay of the poor under the guise of “saving.”
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Popular culture between naivety and cruelty
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Superstition and violence: “The Axe and the Tree” satirizes a man attacking a tree he believes to be bewitched, a symbol of destructive collective ignorance.
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The fickle crowd: In “This Audience,” Haqqi observes a Roman crowd clapping indiscriminately, a metaphor for the ease with which public opinion can be manipulated.
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Haqqi’s Literary Techniques
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Character-building and symbolism
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Characters appear as “icons”: Umm Muhammad (in “Five Piastres”) embodies weary patience tinged with despair, while Faten represents stolen childhood.
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Servants and orphans symbolize oppression, while “the lady” and “the bey” personify exploitative power.
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Language: blending classical and colloquial Arabic
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Haqqi mixes formal Arabic with Egyptian vernacular to heighten realism, as in the scolding line: “What’s with you, boy? Getting too big for your boots?”
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His prose is concise and piercing, e.g., describing Umm Muhammad: “Her hands kneaded ceaselessly from dawn until after noon.”
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Irony as a narrative strategy
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Dramatic irony: In “Ten Kilos Carrying Ten Kilos,” the woman who despises others is herself consumed by malice.
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Subtle mockery: “Anything at All” opens with a faux-apology for writing a “shoddy piece,” only to morph into a critique of society’s embrace of disorder and mediocrity.
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Impact and Controversy
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Critical reception
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Praise: The book was lauded for its “verbal grace and thematic depth,” especially in revealing society’s “ugly face.”
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Criticism: Some later readers considered the essays “conventional” after fifty years, yet many insisted the problems—such as labor exploitation—remain relevant.
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Historical importance
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A social document: The collection captured Egypt’s shifting values in the 1960s, as capitalism spread and rural traditions eroded.
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Influence on later writers: Haqqi paved the way for authors like Yusuf Idris and Naguib Mahfouz in portraying the marginalized.
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A Smile That Hides Tears
An Idea and a Smile is more than sardonic storytelling—it is a cry against inhumanity.
Across 194 pages, Yahya Haqqi weaves laughter with grief to show that the “smile” in the title masks a deep fury.
Decades later, these tableaux still mirror Arab societies, where exploitation and class divisions persist.
As Haqqi writes in his preface: “These tableaux are all shaped by women—and that is the source of my affliction,” reminding us that true literature beats with the pain of the marginalized.
Selected Quotes
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“I shall present, without exaggeration, tableaux I have witnessed with my own eyes, which filled me with utter revulsion.”
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“I never studied the craft of storytelling; I learned from their homes through suffering.”
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“A smile may well be the veil of storms of rage.”
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