Where is Zaabalawi?
Throughout the story the narrator, with an unknown disease, seeks a man his father knew, the healer Zaabalawi. Everybody the narrator asks during his journey says great things about Zaabalawi, but none of them know where he is.
The significance is that Zaabalawi is the personification of true spirituality. He is regarded as a man of mystery and a man of miracles, not unlike Christ or Mohammed, both who tried to improve people's lives by spreading love and hope.
So, where is he?
The narrator first journeys to a religious lawyer, obviously very familiar the Sharia. Zaabalawi is not here, though, because the lawyer is only interested in a potential client. This also signifies the differences between religious texts and the true meaning of religion. Like in Tartuffe, people may be very knowledgable about the text but are hypocritical by acting in an impious manner, characterized by selfishness and judgment of others.
Similarly, the next man the narrator visits is consumed by greed. He is selling books about wisdom and truth, which is ironic because a higher truth has nothing to do with materialistic desires. The next man he visits, a government bureaucrat, also symbolizes selfishness and greed. Zaabalawi is nowhere in sight.
The narrator almost finds him when he meets the artist. Though the narrator is frustrated that he is wasting his time, the artist replies that it was not a waste because they got to know each other. Like we found in the Wasteland, true religion centers around the relationships between people.
Finding Zaabalawi... at a bar?
The man that leads the narrator to Zaabalawi is a drunk. With this, Mahfouz implies that religious laws are meaningless. The only thing that matters is sympathy and giving to others. When the narrator lowers his inhibitions and allows himself to truly enjoy the company of another person, Zaabalawi appears to him in a dreamlike state. Upon awakening, the narrator still hasn't learned the meaning of spirituality because he offers to pay Zaabalawi to come back. Of course money doesn't matter to Zaabalawi, he only requires being loved, because religion is about loving other people, not money and self-interest.
The significance is that Zaabalawi is the personification of true spirituality. He is regarded as a man of mystery and a man of miracles, not unlike Christ or Mohammed, both who tried to improve people's lives by spreading love and hope.
So, where is he?
The narrator first journeys to a religious lawyer, obviously very familiar the Sharia. Zaabalawi is not here, though, because the lawyer is only interested in a potential client. This also signifies the differences between religious texts and the true meaning of religion. Like in Tartuffe, people may be very knowledgable about the text but are hypocritical by acting in an impious manner, characterized by selfishness and judgment of others.
Similarly, the next man the narrator visits is consumed by greed. He is selling books about wisdom and truth, which is ironic because a higher truth has nothing to do with materialistic desires. The next man he visits, a government bureaucrat, also symbolizes selfishness and greed. Zaabalawi is nowhere in sight.
The narrator almost finds him when he meets the artist. Though the narrator is frustrated that he is wasting his time, the artist replies that it was not a waste because they got to know each other. Like we found in the Wasteland, true religion centers around the relationships between people.
Finding Zaabalawi... at a bar?
The man that leads the narrator to Zaabalawi is a drunk. With this, Mahfouz implies that religious laws are meaningless. The only thing that matters is sympathy and giving to others. When the narrator lowers his inhibitions and allows himself to truly enjoy the company of another person, Zaabalawi appears to him in a dreamlike state. Upon awakening, the narrator still hasn't learned the meaning of spirituality because he offers to pay Zaabalawi to come back. Of course money doesn't matter to Zaabalawi, he only requires being loved, because religion is about loving other people, not money and self-interest.