It's a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind.

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.

I reject any path which rejects life, but I can't help loving Sufism because it sounds so beautiful. It gives relief in the midst of battle.

I was suffering from a peculiar and persistent sense that I was being pursued, and also the conviction that under the political order of the times, our lives had no meaning.

Happy is he who can give himself up.

If you want to move people, you look for a point of sensitivity, and in Egypt nothing moves people as much as religion.

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.