Truth and the Interfering Genies

          Common to peoples across time and geography, the characters of Naguib Mahfouz’s Arabian Nights and Days have not been “deprived . . . of the hope of attaining” truth (228). I, too, have not been deprived of this hope. Through various Sunday school classes and sermons, I have been taught--intentionally or not--that the “truth” exists in an unadulterated form in the spiritual realm. And as humans, we may glimpse this truth in relationship with the higher-ups. The spiritual creatures in Arabian Nights and Days are not so straightforward.

While in some cases, the spiritual realm offers truth in its purest form, other interferences from spiritual creatures in the story capture characters in mazes of lies. After his first interaction with the genie Qumqam, Sanaan al-Gamali is thrust into dizzying doubts: “[H]e was sure of nothing” (14). Evil consumes him, leaving only a “confused mind that chewed over memories as though they were delusions” (21). Truth has been lost. But when Gamasa al-Bulti is driven by the murderous task of the genie, he claims to see the truth clearer than before. Moments before the killing, Gamasa claims that “the truth is being spoken for the first time” (46). After two different incarnations, Gamasa, now referring to himself as Abdullah of the Land, continues to speak the truth, insisting that the dissevered head is his: “There’s no doubt about it” (75).

When truth is spoken, the cunning genies are overpowered.  The genie Zarmabaha disguises herself as Anees al-Galees to trick powerful men into giving gifts and looking like fools (137). But the astuteness of the “madman,” formerly Gamasa, exposes the genie’s trickery, unimpressed with the extravagant ploy, saying, “I see nothing but walls between which the breaths of the ancient plague rebound” (143). This frank accusation dissolves the scam: “With extraordinary speed there was nothing left of her but disparate parts, which themselves were transformed into smoke that simply disappeared and left no trace” (143).

Though the spirits of Arabian Nights and Days do not share the aim of finding or relaying truth, truth remains an objective for nearsighted humans. And when it is attained, even if temporarily, it trumps the interfering genies and drives humans with an other-worldly strength.