Egyptian writer and thinker Taha Hussein, a son of Minya Governorate, who was born on November 14, 1889. His ideas sparked much controversy, and he was able to leave a mark in the history of Arabic literature. He is considered one of the most prominent figures in the modern Arab literary movement. He was one of the first to obtain a doctorate in Arabic literature, and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature 14 times.

In this year, 48 years have passed since the passing of the Dean of Arabic Literature, Taha Hussein, as he died on October 28, 1973, at the age of 84. Leaving a large stock of literary works that remain in the memory of history, some of which were transformed into works of art. On the anniversary of his passing, we review in the following lines the most prominent novels of the writer Taha Hussein, which were turned into cinematic films and television series.

The true promise

The book “The True Promise” was presented in 1951, in a film entitled “The Rise of Islam” directed by Ibrahim Ezz El-Din. The film returns to the Arabian Peninsula region forty years before the mission of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, where ignorance, corruption, and idolatry prevailed. Let Islam come calling for the worship of the One and Only God. The film dealt with the difficulties that faced Islam and the early Muslims, presenting the story of a group of companions, including Waraqah bin Nawfal, Ammar bin Yasser, and Bilal bin Rabah. The film stars Imad Hamdi, Koka, Ahmed Mazhar, and Tawfiq Al-Daqen. The same idea was also presented in 1993 in a television series bearing the original name of the book, starring Abdullah Ghaith, Hamdi Ghaith, and Suhair Al-Morshedy, and directed by Wafiq Wagdy.

The Nightingale's Prayer

Director Henry Barakat presented the film “The Nightingale’s Prayer,” based on the story of the same name by Taha Hussein. The film, which was produced in 1959, came in 14th place on the list of the 100 best films in the history of Egyptian cinema. It was nominated for the Berlin Film Festival Award in 1960, and was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. The film revolves around “Amna”, played by Faten Hamama, who decides to take revenge on the engineer, played by Ahmed Mazhar, who caused the death of her sister “Hanadi” or Zahra Al-Ola, after he took advantage of her love for him and assaulted her, so her family killed her in defense of her honor. Amna goes to work as a maid in the engineer’s house to take revenge on him, but she is unable to kill him, so she thinks about making him fall in love with her and torturing him. Indeed, he fell in love with her, but she also fell in love with him. When he proposed marriage to her, she told him the truth and left the house. She found her uncle in front of her trying to kill her, so she returned to the engineer to take shelter from him, but he was shot instead and killed.

Lost Love

The novel “Lost Love” was turned into a successful radio series with the same name starring Souad Hosni, Sabah, and Omar Sharif in 1969. Then director Henry Barakat presented it in a film produced in 1970, starring Souad Hosni, Zubaida Tharwat, and Rushdi Abaza. His story revolves around “Laila,” who got married and traveled with her husband to Tunisia, and maintained her relationship with her childhood friend, “Samia.” “Laila” returns to Egypt after the death of her husband, so “Samia” and her husband “Medhat” try to help her, and love creeps into the hearts of “Medhat” and “Laila,” and they enter into a forbidden relationship, which “Samia” discovers after a while, so her friend apologizes to her and gets into her car quickly and falls from the top. Mokattam Hill and dies, while the husband tries to return to his wife apologetically, only to find that she has taken their son and left the house.

On the sidelines of the biography

The book “On the Margins of the Biography” is a simplified narration of the honorable biography of the Prophet, and it was covered in a television series in 1978, starring Zahra Al-Ola, Ahmed Mazhar, and Shukri Sarhan. The series shed light on a group of lies that some malicious people tried to attach to Islam to distort its image. The series tried to show the truth by reviewing the biography of the Prophet and the important events and facts that took place in his life.

the days

One of Taha Hussein’s most famous books is a book that included his autobiography and was called “The Days,” which was presented in a movie called “Conqueror of Darkness” in 1978, starring Mahmoud Yassin and Yahya Al-Fakharani and directed by Atef Salem. Then it was presented as a television series called “Al-Ayyam” in 1979, starring Ahmed Zaki, Amina Rizk, and Yehia Shaheen, and directed by Yehia Al-Alami. The events of the series deal with the life story of the Dean of Arabic Literature, Taha Hussein, from his childhood, which he spent in his village in Minya Governorate, and his loss of sight at the age of three, through his period of study at Al-Azhar University and the Egyptian University, then his travel on a study mission to France, and his marriage to his French wife, Suzanne Brissot, who... She played a great role in his life.

Writer

The series “Adeeb”, adapted from the novel of the same name by Taha Hussein, is considered one of the classics of Arabic drama, and tells the story of “Ibrahim Abdullah”, played by Nour Al-Sherif, who is a very intelligent young man, but he suffers from a congenital defect in his face that makes his appearance appear unacceptable, which causes him Many troubles in his life. Ibrahim proposes to one of his relatives, but she prefers suicide rather than marry him. Ibrahim marries Hamida, the girl who truly loves him. He finds himself faced with the opportunity to travel on a mission to study literature in Paris, one of the conditions of which is that he be unmarried. So he divorces his wife and travels. However, he suffers from a complex of guilt towards his wife, whom he abandoned even though she... The only girl who loved him, so he spent the rest of his life in confusion and torment. The series was shown in 1982, starring Nour Al-Sharif, Noura, Dalal Abdel Aziz, and Salah Al-Saadani, and directed by Yahya Al-Alami.