Trenchant and witty critiques of life in Cairo under British ruleWhat Isa ibn Hisham Told Us is a masterpiece of early twentiethcentury Arabic prose. Penned by the Egyptian journalist Muhammad alMuwaylihi this highly original work was first introduced in serialized form in his familys pioneering newspaper Misbah alSharq Light of the East and later published in book form in 1907. Widely hailed for its erudition and mordant wit What Isa ibn Hisham Told Us was embraced by Egypts burgeoning reading public and soon became required reading for generations of school students.Bridging classical genres and modern Arabic fiction What Isa ibn Hisham Told Us is divided into two parts. Sarcastic in tone and critical in outlook the first part of the book relates the excursions of its narrator Isa ibn Hisham and his companion the Pasha through a rapidly westernizing Cairo and provides vivid commentary on a society negotiatinghowever imperfectlythe clash between traditional norms and imported cultural values. The second half takes the narrator to Paris to visit the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where alMuwaylihi casts a critical eye on European society modernity and the role of Western imperialism as it ripples across the globe.Paving the way for the modern Arabic novel What Isa ibn Hisham Told Us is invaluable both for its insight into colonial Egypt and its pioneering role in Arabic literary history.An Englishonly edition.