The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.

As the tension eases, we must look in the direction of agriculture, industry and education as our final goals, and toward democracy under Mr Mubarak.

The calendar has a magic that makes us imagine a memory can be resurrected and revived, but nothing returns.

When you spend time with your friends, what do you talk about? Those things which made an impression on you that day, that week ... I write stories the same way. Events at home, in school, at work, in the street, these are the bases for a story. Some experiences leave such a deep impression that instead of talking about them at the club I work them into a novel.

There are no heroes in most of my stories. I look at our society with a critical eye and find nothing extraordinary in the people I see.

Fear does not prevent death. It prevents life.

Writing is for men who can think and feel, not mindless sensation seekers out of nightclubs and bars. But these are bad times. We are condemned to work with upstarts, clowns who no doubt got their training in a circus and then turned to journalism as the appropriate place to display their tricks.