God's World

God's World (Dunyā Allah) is a short story collection by the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. The collection consists of fourteen stories, long and short. In his collection, Mahfouz takes the reader through Al-Ḥusayn suburbs and Al-'Abbasiyya streets before stopping on Alexandria’s beach and passing through the cemeteries before taking them to a wedding, leading out of a mosque, and finally heading to a bar. This short story collection acts as a lens, clarifying reality. He presents the lives of people from all classes, using aesthetics and concise language. The stories in the collection were published separately in Al-Ahram newspaper between 1961-1962, and they present causes and visions relevant to the 1950s and early 1960s. ‘God’s World’ was published 25 years after the publication of Mahfouz's first short story collection ‘Hams Al-Junun' or ‘Whisper of Madness.’ During the period between these two collections, Mahfouz had already established himself as a novelist, for some of his most notable novels were published during that period, like ‘Autumn Quail’ and ‘Medaq Alley.’ It is believed that his becoming a member of Al-Ahram's editorial team drove him to pick up his interest in short stories once more.