Abstract :
This study makes use of two novels by Moroccan writers, BenSa¯lim H:
immı¯sh and
Ah:mad al-Tawfı¯q, to illustrate the way in which the tyrannical behaviour of rulers—in
Egypt in H:
immı¯sh’s case, and in Morocco in al-Tawfı¯q’s—inevitably leads to reactions,
including resistance and challenge mounted by a variety of figures who are portrayed in
heroic fashion. Within the different historical contexts invoked in both novels, the
eventual fate of tyrant and hero varies. For Abu¯ Rukwa, the hero of a revolt against
the Fatimid caliph, al-H: a¯kim bi-Amr Alla¯h, in H:
immı¯sh’s novel, the outcome is a
gruesome death. In each case, however, the exploration of ‘misrule’ that is undertaken in
novelistic form is not merely an exercise in fictionalizing history but also a more general
commentary on the modes whereby political power has been abused in the past.
The relevance of such explorations to current realities in the Arabic-speaking world
hardly needs underlining.
