"The Days" by Taha Hussein
A Memoir of Resilience and Creativity
The work sheds light on living with disability while capturing the intellectual battles over modernization in early 20th-century Egypt. Written in an elegant, distinctive style—praised for its “broken rhythm” and “eloquence of silence”—it reflects the complexity of human emotion.
The three parts of the memoir were first published separately, before being compiled into a single volume (first edition, 1992).
Part One: Childhood in the Darkness of Upper Egypt (Birth – 1902)
Growing up in the village of al-Kilo in Minya province:
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Born into a poor family of thirteen children (he was the seventh), with a father employed at a local sugar company.
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At age four, an eye infection left him blind. Yet his sharp intellect and exceptional memory compensated: he memorized the Qur’an at the village religious school.
Early suffering and awareness of difference:
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He felt an awkward “special status” within the family: his mother’s excessive pity, his siblings’ mix of caution and disdain, and his father’s neglect.
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Painful moments marked his isolation—for example, when he reached for food with both hands at the table, prompting his siblings’ laughter and his mother’s tears. Such experiences restricted his movements and pushed him inward.
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He transformed his sense of deficiency into a driving willpower: refusing foods that required a spoon (like soup) to avoid ridicule, while immersing himself in stories and religious chants.
Part Two: Al-Azhar—The Battle for Intellectual Freedom (1902–1914)
First shocks in Cairo:
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Arriving at al-Azhar University in 1902, he expected an ideal institution of learning. Instead, he found rigid curricula, clerics who valued memorization over understanding, and political quarrels overshadowing scholarship.
His rebellion against tradition:
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He criticized al-Azhar’s teaching methods, likening them to “plates filled with noise.”
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Inspired by reformist teachers like Sheikh al-Marsafi, he discovered the beauty of classical Arabic texts such as al-Kamil by al-Mubarrad.
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In 1908 he joined the newly established Egyptian University, studying history and philosophy, and published bold critical essays that shook conservative circles.
Part Three: France—A Journey into Light and Knowledge (1914–1919)
Confronting and overcoming exile:
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After repeated setbacks, he finally won a scholarship to France. Financial struggles forced him to return home temporarily, but he persisted.
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Immersed in French culture, he overcame the language barrier, mastering Latin and Greek, and eventually earned a doctorate from the Sorbonne with a dissertation on The Social Philosophy of Ibn Khaldun.
Suzanne: his companion and source of inspiration:
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In France, he met Suzanne, a fellow student who read texts aloud for him. They married in 1917. Hussein wrote of her:“Without you, I feel truly blind. But with you, I can sense everything.”
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She became his eyes, his reader, and his anchor—both emotionally and intellectually.
Literary and Social Value of the Memoir
Style: lyrical storytelling and psychological honesty
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Hussein used silence as a rhetorical device to convey loneliness, and repetition to link chapters together.
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He combined objective narration with free-flowing inner monologue, immersing readers in sensory details—sounds, scents, touch—that re-created his world.
Bold social critique
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He exposed contradictions in rural Egypt: piety intertwined with superstition, community solidarity alongside cruelty toward the vulnerable.
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He attacked al-Azhar’s intellectual stagnation, urging modern methods rooted in critical analysis.
A timeless human message
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The memoir offers a model of defiance: human will can transform disability into creative energy.
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It highlights the errors of treating people with disabilities through condescending pity, instead calling for dignity and empowerment.
Literary and Cultural Legacy
The Days is not only a personal memoir but also a mirror of Egypt’s transition from the grip of tradition to the horizons of modernity. Through his life, Taha Hussein teaches:
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The power of will: a blind child rising to become a university professor and a pioneer of enlightenment.
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The role of knowledge as a weapon against ignorance and stagnation.
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The importance of human support—as embodied by Suzanne—in achieving success.
“I hope my blind friends may find in this story some relief from life’s burdens, and encouragement to face it with a smile.”—Taha Hussein
With these words, the Dean of Arabic Literature distilled the essence of his masterpiece: a story of pain transformed into a beacon of hope, for every person who must face darkness armed with the light of determination.
For the original summary in Arabic
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