The Map of Love (57 page)

‘It is quite clear that Arabs form a natural unity,’ Sheikh Rashid Rida says. ‘Here am I, a Syrian, and Anton Bey from Lebanon, and we live and work here. Our ideas are the same. Our aims are the same —’

‘And we belong within the Ottoman Empire,’ Mustafa Kamel says. ‘Without the Empire we are divided and weak.’

‘The Empire itself is weak,’ Qasim Amin says. ‘It is dying. Every time Europe makes a move, the Sultan backs off. If he were strong, how is it that Britain is in Egypt?’

‘And we should note the troubles in Palestine,’ Anton al-Jmayyil says. ‘The Sultan is unable to stop the Zionist immigration.’

‘These are a few people. Persecuted, oppressed —’ Tal
at Harb’s steady, deep voice rises through the room — ‘and the Empire, since the fall of al-Andalus, has a tradition of welcoming the Jews.’

‘I believe Anton Bey is right,’ Sheikh Muhammad
Abdu says gently.

Anna watches this man she has held in her affections since the day of her wedding.

‘There is more trouble to come from this quarter,’ he says. ‘You see the news from their Fifth Congress? They request donations from the Jewish community all over the world.’

‘This money will be used to buy land in Palestine,’ Anton al-Jmayyil says.

The women, kneeling in the dark, remember Shukri al-
Asali: his impassioned talk, the letters he carried with him —

‘We should learn from them,’ Rashid Rida says. ‘Even though we do not like what they are doing, we should learn from them. They have determination and they work together.’

‘They too are divided.’ Her husband speaks and Anna moves slightly to get a better view of him. ‘Some of the younger ones have broken off and formed a new group, the Democratic Zionist Faction. And then there are the rabbis who are against Judaism becoming political and the wise men who say, “But there are Arabs living on the land” —’

‘The rabbis and the wise men are a minority,’ Anton al-Jmayyil says.

‘And what is new in that?’ Muhammad
Abdu smiles.

‘In any case,’ Mustafa Kamel says impatiently, ‘the Zionists are one of our concerns. There are others that are more immediate. The Capitulations, for example, and the special laws —’

Silently Mirghani clears the empty plates from in front of the men, replacing them with full ones. Silently he circles with the tray of hibiscus, tamarind and apple juice.

‘Cromer himself is anxious to get rid of the Capitulations,’ Husni Bey says. ‘They undermine his authority —’

“I think we should leave the Capitulations to him,’ Sharif Basha says. ‘They detract from our sovereignty — but that is a theoretical matter. Without them his grip on the country is even tighter. The special laws are another matter —’

‘You will never get rid of those, ya Basha,’ Tal
at Harb says. ‘As long as the British are in occupation, they will have special laws to protect themselves —’

‘So much for Cromer’s “equality of all men before the law”,’ Sharif Basha says.

‘Industrialisation,’ Tal
at Harb says, ‘that should be our first concern now. That is the real battle against Cromer. Al-Minshawi Basha and others have started to put money into textile manufacture. The new taxation Cromer proposes will bankrupt them within a year.’

‘We opposed it in the Council,’ Sharif Basha says. ‘Now we have to make sure the Assembly opposes it too.’

‘This is all a waste of time,’ Mustafa Kamel says impatiently. ‘The Occupation itself is our problem. At every turn we come up against it. All our efforts should be concentrated on ending it. We should stand close to the Sublime Porte, anything that strengthens him strengthens us. We should appeal to France, and we should appeal to the United States; they have no interest in seeing Britain in Egypt and the principles of liberty and democracy are clearly set out in their constitutions.’

‘We can do all these things,’ Muhammad
Abdu says. ‘But meanwhile, we cannot allow our internal affairs to remain stagnant.’

Qasim Amin speaks: ‘Take the Question of Women, for example,’ he says.

Layla nudges Anna.

‘The Question of Women, with all respect —’ Tal
at Harb bows towards Qasim Amin — ‘is a fabricated question. There is no Question of Women in our country.’

‘With Tal
at Basha’s permission,’ Qasim Amin says, ‘I believe there is a question and that we expose ourselves to grave danger in ignoring it.’ And now Anna remembers: the Egyptian gentleman in the Salon of Princess Nazli. She wonders whether he has told her husband that he had met her. She thinks not; Sharif Basha has never mentioned it. ‘We cannot claim to desire a Renaissance for Egypt,’ Qasim Amin continues, ‘while half her population live in the Middle Ages.

To take the simplest matters, how can children be brought up with the right outlook by ignorant mothers? How can a man find support and companionship with an ignorant wife?’

‘I have nothing against girls being educated,’ Mustafa Kamel says. ‘But we should leave the veil alone.’

‘I believe we can leave the veil alone,’ Sharif Basha says and his sister makes a face. ‘Women will decide for themselves about the veil. But if we can agree that girls should be educated —’