The 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) "who, through works rich in nuance – now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous – has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind.

[2][3] The writings of Naguib Mahfouz address some of life's most important issues, such as the passage of time, society and norms, knowledge and faith, reason and love.

350 short stories and more than 30 novels make up Mahfouz's body of work, among them Awlād ḥāratinā ("Children of Gebelawi", 1959), Tharthara Fawq Al-Nīl ("Adrift on the Nile", 1966), and Afrāḥ al-qubba ("Wedding Song", 1981).

[2][4] Widely read in Egypt and other Arabic countries, Mahfouz was largely unknown in the Western world at the time he was awarded the Nobel prize.

While Mahfouz was controversial politically, he was a popular writer and the Nobel prize to him was well received throughout the Arab world.