Naguib Mahfouz - Before the Throne

“Those present would like to know some of your accomplishments while you served as prime minister,” said Osiris.

“Though the people were not in power for more than eight years, in contrast with eighteen years of autocratic rule by the king and the minority parties,” replied Mustafa al-Nahhas, “and despite what they suffered in repression, and the repeated attempts to assassinate me, God permitted me to render not a few services to our country. Among these were the repeal of the foreign capitulations, the abolition of the Religion Fund, the establishment of the Arab League, the independence of the judiciary and the national university, the civil service law, the ban on foreigners owning agricultural land, the first compensation for on-the-job injuries and mandatory insurance against them, the recognition of labor unions, the requirement that foreign companies use the Arabic language, the social insurance program, the creation of the general accounting office, and free primary, secondary, and intermediary education.”

“Welcome to the third revolutionary leader in the history of our people,” lauded Abnum. “He extended his power through his faith in his people and his God. His life was poisoned by prolonged struggle and strife. He lived a poor man, and died one as well.”

“Please accept my love, O leader,” said Akhenaten. “You are like me, who was completely identified with the belief in the One God, and devotion to the pure principles. You are like me also in your love of the people’s humbleness, and in your mixing with them without any sign of arrogance or condescension. And like me, you were subjected to the enmity of the scoundrels and the worshipers of power, and the prisoners of self-interest, both living and dead. And you are like me in that you were fortunate to experience of the ecstasy of victory, and also tested by way of rejection and defeat. But be glad — for in the end, the victory is ours!”

“This is a decent man,” declared Isis, “one of our most righteous sons.”

“I grant you the right to sit among the Immortals until the end of this proceeding,” decided Osiris. “Then you may go to your final trial, bearing with you our most generous commendation.”

HORUS CALLED OUT, “Gamal Abdel Nasser!”

A tall man entered; his features were strong and his personality powerful. He continued to stride forward until he stood before the throne.

Osiris asked him to state his case.

“I come from the village of Beni Murr, in the districts around Asyut,” Abdel Nasser said proudly. “I was raised in a poor family, from the popular classes, and endured the bitterness and hardships of life. I graduated from the War College in 1938, and took part in Wafdist demonstrations. I was besieged along with the others at Falluja in 1949. The loss of Palestine dismayed me, but what disturbed me even more was the depth of the defeat’s roots inside the homeland.

“Then it dawned on me that I should transfer the fight to within, where the real enemies of the nation were hiding in ambush. Cautiously and in secret, I formed the Free Officers’ organization. I watched as events unfolded, waiting for the right moment to swoop down upon the regime in power. I realized my objective in 1952, then the Revolution’s achievements — such as the abolition of the monarchical system, the completion of the total withdrawal of British troops from the country, the breaking up of the big landed estates through the law of agricultural reform, the Egyptianization of the economy, and the planning for the comprehensive revamping of both farming and industry to benefit the people and to dissolve the divisions between the classes — came one after another. We erected the High Dam while creating the public sector on the path to building socialism. We built a powerful, modern army. We spread the call for Arab unity. We assisted every Arab and African revolution. We nationalized the Suez Canal. In all this we were a beacon and a model for the entire Third World in its struggle against foreign colonialism and domestic exploitation. In my time of rule, working people enjoyed strength and power not known to them before. For the first time, the way was made for them to enter the legislative assemblies and the universities as well, when they could feel that the land was their land and the country their country.

“But the imperialist forces lay waiting to spring upon me — and then the detestable defeat of June 5, 1967 descended upon me. The great work was shaken to its foundations, and I was doomed to what seemed like death three years before I actually expired. I lived a sincere Egyptian Arab, and died an Egyptian Arab martyr,” Abdel Nasser ended his opening statement.

“Allow me to convey to you my vast love and admiration,” gushed Ramesses II. “What is my affection for you but an extension of my love for myself? For look how much we resemble each other. Both of us radiate a greatness that filled up our own country till it spilt over her borders. Both of us fashioned a surpassing victory from a defeat, while neither of us was satisfied with his own glorious accomplishments, raiding the deeds of our predecessors as well. To my good fortune, I sat on the throne of Egypt when she was supreme among nations, while you ruled when she was a tiny band of believers straggling amongst titans. The God bestowed strength of spirit and body upon me through all my long life, while begrudging you but a little of these things, hastening your demise before your time.”

“Your interest in Arab unity was higher than your interest in Egypt’s integrity,” bemoaned Menes, “for you even removed her immortal name with one stroke of the pen. You compelled many of her sons to migrate abroad, such as happened only in fleeting moments of subjugation.”

“I am not to blame if some Egyptians see Arab unity as a catastrophe for themselves,” disputed Abdel-Nasser, “nor if I accomplish majestic things that those who came before me were too weak to achieve. For in truth, Egyptian history really began on July 23, 1952.”

A hubbub arose among those present, continuing to build until Osiris called out, “Order in the court! Ladies and gentlemen, you must allow everyone to express their opinion freely.”

“Permit me to hail you in my capacity as the first revolutionary among Egypt’s poor,” began Abnum. “I want to testify that the wretched did not enjoy such security in any age — after my own — as they did in yours. I can only fault you for one thing: for insisting that your revolution be stainless, when in fact the blood should have run in rivers!”

“What is that butcher raving about now?” objected Khufu, scowling.

“Do not forget that you are no longer sitting upon your throne,” Osiris berated him. “Say you are sorry.”

“I am sorry,” said Khufu sheepishly.

“Despite your martial upbringing,” Thutmose III lectured Abdel-Nasser, “and though you have proven your outstanding ability in many other fields, none of them were military. Nor were you a military leader in any serious sense of the term.”

“One must forgive my defeat by an army equipped by the most powerful state on the face of the earth!”

“Your duty was to avoid war and to refrain from provoking superior powers!” Imhotep, vizier to King Djoser, rebuked him.

“That conflicted with my goals, while I was deceived more than once!” Abdel-Nasser complained.

“An excuse worse than the offense,” snapped Ptahhotep.

“You attempted to blot my name from existence, along with the name of Egypt,” said Saad Zaghloul. “You said about me that I rose on the crest of the 1919 Revolution. Let me tell you about the meaning of leadership. Leadership is a divine gift and a popular instinct. It does not come to a person either by blind luck or chance. The Egyptian leader is the one to whom all Egyptians pledge their allegiance, regardless of their differing faiths — or he will never be leader of the Egyptians. He may also be an Arab or Islamic leader — for which, in any case, I don’t reject your claim. I consider your slander against me but a youthful indiscretion, that perhaps could be tolerated in view of the glorious services you have rendered. The Urabi Revolution was a noble struggle that was thwarted most painfully. The 1919 Revolution was one of the great exploits bestowed by history, but its enemies grew more and more numerous until it was wiped out with the burning of Cairo. Then your revolution came, and you put paid to its enemies as you completed the message of the two earlier uprisings. And though it began as a military coup, the people nonetheless blessed it and gave it their loyalty. It was in your power to build its base among them and to establish an enlightened, democratic form of government. But your delusive impulses toward autocracy were responsible for all the drawbacks and disasters of your rule.”