In Egypt today most people are concerned with getting bread to eat. Only some of the educated understand how democracy works.

Abath Al-Aqdar (Mockery of the Fates) (1939) Rhadopis (1943) and Kifah Tibah (The Struggle of Thebes) (1944) were historical novels written as part of a larger unfulfilled project of 30 novels. Writing about some of these subjects was prohibited in Egypt. Akhenaten Dweller in Truth (1985) is about conflict between old and new religious truths.

He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature along with Tawfiq el-Hakim to explore themes of existentialism. He publiNaguib Mahfouzd 34 novels over 350 short stories dozens of movie scripts and five plays over a 70-year career. Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic: نجيب محفوظ‎ Nagīb Maḥfūẓ IPA: [næˈɡiːb mɑħˈfuːzˤ]; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature.