Le marginal comme modèle national Fumeurs de haschich et gueux sublimes dans le Ṣāliḥ Hēṣa de Ḫayrī Šalabī

Ḫayrī Šalabī’s déclassé heroes are not considered by him to be at the margins of the nation and literature; they are on the contrary the very essence and the center of Egypt, hidden under a false touristic makeup. The true national spirit is embodied in the sublime beggar, a repository of simple and secular wisdom.