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''Qismati and Nasibi'' is a short story written by Mahfouz and included in the short story collection ''I Saw, in a Dream'', published in 1982 and edited/translated by Ronak Husni and Daniel Newman. The title in Arabic means My Fate and My Destiny.
== Plot summary ==
The story opens with a presentation of Mohsen Khalil, a spice seller. Despite his good fortune and many prayers, this man and his wife Sitt Anabaya had been unable to conceive. At the age of forty, Sitt discoverd that she was pregnant. She gave birth to conjoined twins, a child with one body and two chests and heads. The parents were distraught but resigned to this fate. They named one child Qismati and the other one Nasibi, though they were registered on the birth certificate as one child. Each developed a distinct personality and physical aspect: Qismati had a dark complexion with hazel eyes while Nasibi was fair with black eyes. Nasibi was naughty and destructive; he enjoyed chasing chickens and torturing cats. Qismati was submissive and quietly religious.
Socialization was difficult because they were so unusual. The neighbors were curious but cautious and the parents had to bribe them to get their children play with Nasibi and Qismati. Amourous affection for a young girl named Samiha provoked aggression and jealousy, a black eye and a bloody lip. Schooling was done in the home, where Qismati proved an able and engaged student while Nasibi was uninterested and had little talent for learning. Nasibi did all he could to undermine his brother's efforts. Even fasting became an issue because when Qismati wanted to fast, Nasibi would eat and fill their shared abdomen.
As they grew older, the boys became more different in their character and demeanor, and increasingly disliked each other. This created a terrible and unsolvable dilemma since they could not seperate from each other. Qismati enjoyed reading and learning; Nasibi prefered to run outside and annoy the neighbors. These differences caused countless fights and the parents grew increasingly wearied by the constant conflict. Despite the counseling of their father to find compromise and harmony, the boys could not resolve their differences and refused to love each other. They were provided a wife and a job working in their father's shop, but these benefits did nothing to allay the twins' dispair. They blamed each other and their parents for the misfortune of their birth. Nasibi became more and more miserable, aging prematurely as his health declined. Finally he died, leaving Qismati in the strange position of carrying his brother's dead corpse around to live a half-life, half-death. Unable to adjust, Qismati too died.
== Style ==
The genre of the tale is neither comedic nor tragic; instead it is a kind of "tragic comedy" according to the editor.<ref name=":0"></ref> It is widely regarded as an allegory with multiple interpretations.<ref name=":0" /> This is akin to the process he followed in other works, ''Children of Our Alley'', for example.<ref name=":1">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> The range of possibilities for interpretation are not always palatable to the author, however. In a published conversation with Jamal Ghitani, Mahfouz revealed his consternation at the "strange" interpretation of his story by the former minister of culture of Spain: that the allegory presents the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite his reaction, he also acknowledged that the reception and interpretation of a work depends on the reader since each reader understands a work differently.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 2, expected 1)</ref>
The story is a good example of how Mahfuz uses magical realism.<ref name=":0" /> In this almost unrealistic setting featuring Siamese twins he is able to integrate themes that reoccur often in his work: themes of good and evil, the social responsibility of man, and death.<ref name=":1" />
== Sources ==
== Plot summary ==
The story opens with a presentation of Mohsen Khalil, a spice seller. Despite his good fortune and many prayers, this man and his wife Sitt Anabaya had been unable to conceive. At the age of forty, Sitt discoverd that she was pregnant. She gave birth to conjoined twins, a child with one body and two chests and heads. The parents were distraught but resigned to this fate. They named one child Qismati and the other one Nasibi, though they were registered on the birth certificate as one child. Each developed a distinct personality and physical aspect: Qismati had a dark complexion with hazel eyes while Nasibi was fair with black eyes. Nasibi was naughty and destructive; he enjoyed chasing chickens and torturing cats. Qismati was submissive and quietly religious.
Socialization was difficult because they were so unusual. The neighbors were curious but cautious and the parents had to bribe them to get their children play with Nasibi and Qismati. Amourous affection for a young girl named Samiha provoked aggression and jealousy, a black eye and a bloody lip. Schooling was done in the home, where Qismati proved an able and engaged student while Nasibi was uninterested and had little talent for learning. Nasibi did all he could to undermine his brother's efforts. Even fasting became an issue because when Qismati wanted to fast, Nasibi would eat and fill their shared abdomen.
As they grew older, the boys became more different in their character and demeanor, and increasingly disliked each other. This created a terrible and unsolvable dilemma since they could not seperate from each other. Qismati enjoyed reading and learning; Nasibi prefered to run outside and annoy the neighbors. These differences caused countless fights and the parents grew increasingly wearied by the constant conflict. Despite the counseling of their father to find compromise and harmony, the boys could not resolve their differences and refused to love each other. They were provided a wife and a job working in their father's shop, but these benefits did nothing to allay the twins' dispair. They blamed each other and their parents for the misfortune of their birth. Nasibi became more and more miserable, aging prematurely as his health declined. Finally he died, leaving Qismati in the strange position of carrying his brother's dead corpse around to live a half-life, half-death. Unable to adjust, Qismati too died.
== Style ==
The genre of the tale is neither comedic nor tragic; instead it is a kind of "tragic comedy" according to the editor.<ref name=":0"></ref> It is widely regarded as an allegory with multiple interpretations.<ref name=":0" /> This is akin to the process he followed in other works, ''Children of Our Alley'', for example.<ref name=":1">Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> The range of possibilities for interpretation are not always palatable to the author, however. In a published conversation with Jamal Ghitani, Mahfouz revealed his consternation at the "strange" interpretation of his story by the former minister of culture of Spain: that the allegory presents the Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite his reaction, he also acknowledged that the reception and interpretation of a work depends on the reader since each reader understands a work differently.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 2, expected 1)</ref>
The story is a good example of how Mahfuz uses magical realism.<ref name=":0" /> In this almost unrealistic setting featuring Siamese twins he is able to integrate themes that reoccur often in his work: themes of good and evil, the social responsibility of man, and death.<ref name=":1" />
== Sources ==
April 15, 2020 at 06:47AM
