Zainab

Zainab, a name which aptly reflects the beauty of this tale's protagonist is also the title of the first modern Egyptian novel written in native vernacular. Crafted in 1910 by a privileged member of society and a student at the time living in Paris.

Mohammed Hussein Haikal was born in 1888 in Kakr Ghannam, Egypt. At just 22 years of age, he wrote Zainab whilst studying Law at Sorbonne University in Paris. After returning to Egypt, he worked as a lawyer and then as a journalist, and later became the Minister of State for the Interior Ministry, and Minister of Education where he famously introduced several successful reforms.