To thine own self be true

Azazeel comes to Britain as the winner of the 2009 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, inevitably known as the ‘Arabic Booker’. It’s also been both a source of controversy and an unexpected popular hit in Youssef Ziedan’s homeland. According to the translator’s afterword, within months of publication, ‘piles of the novel appeared on the pavements of Cairo, alongside the self-help manuals, political memoirs and Teach Yourself English books that are the staple of the Egyptian popular book market.’  

The action takes place — and this is the controversial bit — during the relatively brief period when Egypt was a Christian country. By the early 5th century, the temples to the old gods had largely been destroyed (sometimes with their followers inside) and Islam was 200 years away. Not that this led to an age of religious harmony. The Christians were now fighting among themselves about the kind of doctrines that might seem to have been central from the gospels onwards, but that were in reality still entirely up for grabs. How could Jesus possibly be both God and man? How could a human being possibly give birth to a divine one? How can the Trinity possibly be squared with monotheism?

Caught in the middle of these increasingly bitter debates is the book’s Zelig-like narrator, Hypa the monk — or, as he understandably calls himself, ‘Hypa the perplexed’. Aged nine, Hypa sees his pagan father hacked to death in the name of Jesus. Even so, he joins the Christians, takes up a life of monastic wandering and handily becomes a witness to many of the key events.

In Alexandria he hears the city’s bishop Cyril declare a holy war on science, Jews and pagans. In Jerusalem, he strikes up an awed friendship with Nestorius — later excommunicated for denying Mary the title ‘Mother of God’.