In "The Happy Man," Naguib Mahfouz tells the story of a wealthy merchant named Hassan who has everything he could possibly want: a successful business, a beautiful wife, and children. Despite all of his material possessions, Hassan is not content. He is constantly seeking more, always striving for greater wealth and status.
One day, Hassan meets a beggar who is seemingly content with his life, despite being poor and homeless. The beggar tells Hassan about a man named Ghaleb who is truly happy, despite having nothing. Intrigued, Hassan sets off on a journey to find this mysterious happy man.
As Hassan travels, he meets a series of people who all tell him about the happy man. Each person describes Ghaleb as having a simple, contented life and a deep understanding of what truly matters in life. Despite all of their wealth and material possessions, these people are not truly happy, and they envy Ghaleb's contentment.
Eventually, Hassan finds Ghaleb living in a small village. Ghaleb is poor, but he is surrounded by loving friends and family, and he is grateful for what he has. Hassan is struck by Ghaleb's happiness and decides to stay with him, hoping to learn from him and adopt his way of life.
Through his interactions with Ghaleb and the other people he meets on his journey, Hassan comes to understand that true happiness does not come from wealth or material possessions. It comes from within, and it is based on a sense of gratitude, contentment, and appreciation for the simple things in life.
Mahfouz's "The Happy Man" is a poignant reminder that true happiness cannot be bought or achieved through external means. It is a state of being that must be cultivated from within and is based on an understanding of what truly matters in life.
“The Happy Man”, Naguib complianceportal.american.edu
This fact perhaps explains why his works were initially so lacking in sophistication, both artistically and intellectually, for all their faithfulness to the Egyptian social reality and their intent to create stories truly Egyptian in flesh and blood. Then his resistance collapsed completely and he could not control his tears. The Hero, who once figured as Initiate, ends as Rebel or Victim. When her mistake is revealed, she becomes an object of ridicule. Besides, it was now midday and the feeling still possessed him without any sign of diminishing at all. As they wait, they observe a thief fighting with his pursuers, a bad car crash in which several people die, a naked couple making love on top of one of the corpses, the burial of the couple alive with the crash victims, and an orgy of sex, murder and dancing, which takes place round the grave. How could the answer be awarded to one man, alone in the shadow of the grave? Yet Mahfouz's story seems to be suggesting a much deeper truth, which has been discussed at length by religious existentialists from Kierkegaard to Buber and Tillich: If one wishes to relate to God authentically one's life must have a worthy direction, and one must constantly attempt to realize this direction in one's everyday deeds.
Naguib Mahfouz Mahfouz, Naguib (Short Story Criticism)
In fact, it is difficult to find a character whom you can call absolutely happy. He left the clinic with the feeling that he was alone, alone. Such has been his lofty status and his skills as a novelist, that Mahfouz is accused of being an obstacle to progress of the Arabic novel towards newly creative forms of expression, whereas the same charge has not been leveled against him regarding the short story, a form in which he is not dominant. . . Whenever he remembered a problem, his heart chuckled joyfully. There was no sense in these endless talks about public affairs or private worries.
“The Happy Man” by Naguib Mahfouz
. This is because their scope is broad enough for the events of a novel. If the work is divided into parts, do they reflect the development of the act? But today he was unquestionably happy, overflowing with happiness. . The review analyses a crucial part in the strategy and tactics of the world's post-industrial community development, and real equality and cooperation between men and women would be gained. In short, the search for Zaabalawi does not resemble the situation of the Christian believers who come to, say, Dostoyevski's Father Zosima, to his cell in a monastery, to ask for moral assistance or for religious guidance.
