Muhammad al-Muwaylihi

Muhammad al-Muvaylihi was born on March 30, 1858 ^[1] in Cairo, in the family of Ibrahim al-Muvaylihi (1844-1906), a successful merchant, owner of a silk trading company. In 1872, the writer’s father went bankrupt, but thanks to connections in the country's top leadership, he did not go broke. After the removal of power from the Khediva Ismail in 1879, he went with him to exile in Italy. The family was also proud of their kinship with the daughter of the prophet Muhammad , Fatima. The writer's family members were educated people and held high positions in the country.

From the age of ten, Muvaylihi attends a Jesuit school in Cairo, which at that time was considered prestigious. But the writer was reluctant to attend this school, and was more fond of reading books at home. Another reason for the preference for home schooling was speech defects (the writer suffered from stuttering), which complicated his ability to converge with his peers. Thus, schooling was completely replaced by homework, where he was taught Arabic and French.

Many Egyptian activists and writers began to visit the writer's house, among them Ibrahim al-Lakkani and Jamaluddin al-Afghanistan . Thus, when the speeches for the national rights of the Egyptians began, writing turned out to be in the center of events and described what was happening to his father, who was in Italy. For distributing a patriotic brochure, the writer was arrested and sentenced to death, but thanks to his father’s influential friends, he was released and deported to Italy.

In Italy, Muvaylihi is engaged in publishing, as well as the study of the Italian language and Latin. After 1884, he was forced to leave Italy with his father and settle in Paris because of a complaint about the newspaper they were publishing. But in Paris, they again launched another newspaper called Al-Urva al-vuska ( Strongest Link ), which fought for the unification of Islamic peoples against the colonialists. After some time, they were also sent from Paris, but again arranged for the publication of the newspaper already in London. But the writer’s father changed the direction of his criticism, for which he was invited to Istanbul and received the favor of the Sultan in the form of appointment to the post of member of the Education Council, as well as access for himself and his son to the Al-Fatih library. This allowed Muhammad to study many valuable Arabic manuscripts.

In 1887, Muhammad al-Muvaylihi returned to Cairo, and two years later he wrote articles in the newspaper Al-Muqkatam, describing the problems of modern Egyptian society. He also joins the society of the Cairo intelligentsia and visits the salon of Princess Nazli Fadil, the niece of the former Khediva Ismail and the wife of the Mufti of Tunisia, Salim Abu Hadjib, gaining a position in society and making a career. So in 1892 he received the title of bey of the second class and was at the court of the Sultan.

Although the writer enjoyed the favor of the Sultan, but this did not stop him from criticizing the intrigues at his court and, even, the Sultan himself. Thus, tired of court intrigues, he again returned to Egypt. He highlighted his impressions of being at court in the book "Life There." But the Sultan did not like this very much and he ordered to collect the entire circulation.

From 1895 to 1898 he was appointed governor of the province of Qalyubiya (al-Kalyubiyya), but he left this position and began to work with his father in the publication of the Misbah al-Sharq newspaper, which published articles on political topics as well as literary works.

In 1900, Muvaylihi left for England, then made a trip to Paris.

In 1907 he published his most famous book, “The Story of Isa ibn Hisham,” which he dedicated to his dear people, primarily Jamaluddin al-Afghanistan. "The Story of Isa ibn Hisham" is a work that combines the features of a roguish medieval work, makama and a European novel. This is a kind of description of the life of a contemporary author of Egyptian society, along with his criticism and satirical remarks. The Egyptian Ministry of Education has included this book in the school curriculum.

The writer died in 1906, at that time he had already departed from political and publishing activities and spent his time with friends.

• Muvaylihi M. The Story of Isa ibn Hisham, or Time Period / Ed. preparation. V.N. Kirpichenko; open ed. A. B. Kudelin. - M .: Nauka, 2013. ISBN 978-5-02-037548-2
• Kirpichenko V.N. “The Story of Isa ibn Hisham” - between East and West // Muvaylihi M. The Story of Isa ibn Hisham, or Time Period. - M.: Science, 2013.