Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul

Publishing Data Nile Valley Journal of Human, Social and Educational Studies and Research ISSN-O 2682-4582/ISSN-P 2536-9555 April 1st., 2019 Cairo University, Al-Khartoum Branch, Egypt 1 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Translation Studies and Text Linguistics at the Institute of Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies (English Dept.), Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University, Egypt. & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy Associate Professor of English Literature, Faculty of Education, Damanhur University, Egypt. Abstract: Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulul The present paper has started from the realization that the text of Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul is believed, the researchers assume here, to be highly intertextual with the Quranic text, hence the researchers’ hypothesis that uncovering such prospective features of intertextuality is to contribute to a better reading/understanding/ interpretation of the literary work under research. Be that as it may, the researchers here employ a theoretical framework of an intertextual nature. Intertextuality, the researchers assume, has to do with the interpretative side of such a literary work under research because ‘intertextuality’ does have the theoretical potential presumed to relate the novelistic text to the Quranic one, hence reaching solid results. Elements of intertextuality, as discussed by the French theorist Michael Riffaterre, will be expounded throughout this paper under respective items as need be. Questions central to this paper have included such points as the extent to which the novel is intertextual with the Quranic text and whether such intertextuality has been of aesthetic effect. Key Words: Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Michael Riffaterre, Salwa Bakr, Textuality 2 ‫‪Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul‬‬ ‫‪Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy‬‬ ‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة)‬ ‫امللخص العربي‬ ‫يحمل هذا البحث عنوان "التناص القرآني في رواية وصف البلبل لسلوى بكر"‬ ‫انطالقا من مفهو ٍم بيني (‪ )interdisciplinary‬يجمع بين البعد األدبي ومداخله‬ ‫(أو مقارباته) وكذلك البعد اللغوي الترجمي ومداخله (أو مقارباته) حال النظرة إلى‬ ‫النصوص األدبية؛ ذلك أن النص األدبي قد ال يسع الدارس أو القارئ فهمه أو‬ ‫سبر غوره أو استشفاف معانيه‪ ،‬سواء على مستوى القراءة أو الفهم أو التحليل‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫نصوص أخرى أو متو ٍن ذات صلة تميط‬ ‫اللغوي الترجمي إال بإحالة الذهن إلى‬ ‫اللثام عن معاني النص وتجلي مقاصد كاتبها سواء على لسان شخوصه‬ ‫‪ characters‬أو حتى على مستوى ذاته‪ ،‬القابعة خلف تلك الشخوص‪.‬‬ ‫من ثم قد شرع البحث‪ -‬كما يذهب الباحثان‪ -‬في إثبات الفرضية البحثية‬ ‫المثبتة أعاله عبر إطار بحثي نظري قد شمل ترجمة شواهد روائية لظاهرة التناص‬ ‫قد جمعت بين الرواية موضع البحث والنص القرآني؛ وهو ما قد عزز فرضية‬ ‫أخرى تقضي بأن التناص ظاهرة لغوية عابرة "ما ورائية" قد تجمع شتات األلفاظ‬ ‫اللغوية واإلشارات الثقافية واإلحاالت الذهنية في نسي ٍج و ٍ‬ ‫احد‪ ،‬مما يسهم في إنتاج‬ ‫المعنى األدبي المراد بل والمتعة الذهنية أحيانا لدى القارئ األدبي فضال عن‬ ‫الناقد أو اللغوي أو المترجم الذين هم بحاجة ماسة إلى فهم الرموز واإلشارات‬ ‫والعالمات اللغوية وغير اللغوية قبل الشروع في عمليات التحليل أو القراءة األدبية‬ ‫أو العمليات الترجمية لهذا النص‪ ،‬وذلك مثاالً ال حص اًر‪.‬‬ ‫فص َل الباحثان في مفهوم التناص ومثّال له أدبيا ولغويا وبالغيا‬ ‫وعليه فقد ّ‬ ‫وثقافيا وأظهراه ترجمياً من خالل ترجمة االقتباسات ذات الصلة؛ ثم انتهيا إلى‬ ‫النتائج البحثية المثبتة بمتن هذا البحث‪.‬‬ ‫‪3‬‬ )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulul Abstract: The present paper has started from the realization that the text of Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul is believed, the researchers assume here, to be highly intertextual with the Quranic text, hence the researchers’ hypothesis that uncovering such prospective features of intertextuality is to contribute to a better reading/understanding/ interpretation of the literary work under research. Be that as it may, the researchers here employ a theoretical framework of an intertextual nature. Intertextuality, the researchers assume, has to do with the interpretative side of such a literary work under research because ‘intertextuality’ does have the theoretical potential presumed to relate the novelistic text to the Quranic one, hence reaching solid results. Elements of intertextuality, as discussed by the French theorist Michael Riffaterre, will be expounded throughout this paper under respective items as need be. Questions central to this paper have included such points as the extent to which the novel is intertextual with the Quranic text and whether such intertextuality has been of aesthetic effect. Key Words: Hermeneutics, Intertextuality, Michael Riffaterre, Salwa Bakr, Textuality 1-Theoretical framework: Approach and Rationale A growing interest in the study of ‘intertextuality’ has begun as early as, or even before the 70s, when Julia Kristeva first used it in her essay, "Word, Dialogue and Novel" in 1966. Soon after, critics widely attributed the use of the term to Julia Kristeva, who declares that: "This word is often taken as my creation" (Kristeva 2003:8). To create her own concept of intertextuality, Kristeva had to depend on the tremendous efforts of Rene` Girard, Ronald Barthes, Michael Riffaterre, among many others. Since then, "there have appeared a wide range of attitudes towards the concept of intertextuality and what it implies, to such an extent that it is practically impossible to deal with it without considering other related subjects or without taking into account the various 4 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ contributions made by a large number of literary critics" (Alfaro 1996:268). Yet for purposes of scope and scale, the present paper sheds light on the concept of intertextuality, as has been approached by the French theorist, Michael Riffaterre. Riffaterre's concept of intertextuality is a square-like structure based on four corners. Firstly, like any theorist, Riffaterre provides vivid definitions of the terms used – intertextuality, textuality and hypertextuality. Secondly, Riffaterre divides intertextuality into two main categories: direct/indirect, conscious/unconscious and/or obligatory/aleatory. Thirdly, Riffaterre illustrates the literary functions of intertextuality. Fourthly, Riffaterre ends his theory with the relationships between intertextuality and other human sciences, such as psychology and history. Central to Riffaterre's concept of intertextuality is this obligatory relation between the text and the reader, which he calls Compulsory Reader Response. The text, or the hypertext, "tends therefore not to be interpreted for what it is, but for what is selected from it by the reader's individual reactions" (Riffaterre 1987:372). Such reader's reaction is his/her attempt to find other relative hypotexts that help him/her understand the present hypertext. This reader's reaction is, again, his/her continuous search for the pretexts he/she feels that they will fill the gaps in the text, for the sake of deeper understanding. "This missing part of a text, called the "intertext" put like a spell upon the reader, forces him to respond out of his very need for completion, integrality" (Kristeva 2003:12). In "Compulsory Reader Response", Riffaterre (1990:56) adds, "An intertext is one or more texts which the reader must know in order to understand a work of literature in terms of its overall significance". Thus, the relationship between the text and the intertext is mainly interpretative, as Riffaterre refers to in his article, "Hermeneutic Models", " It is the intertext that simultaneously creates the text and provides the key to its interpretations" (1983:14). An intertext, after all, does not mean intertextuality. Riffaterre distinguishes between the two terms as follows: 5 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( An intertext is a corpus of texts, textual fragments, or text like segments of the sociolect that share a lexicon and, to a lesser extent, a syntax with the text we are reading (directly or indirectly) in the form of synonyms or, even conversely, in the form of antonyms… In contrast, intertextuality refers to an operation of the reader's mind, but it is an obligatory one, necessary to any textual decoding. Intertextuality necessarily complements our experience of textuality. It is the perception that our reading of the text cannot be complete or satisfactory without going through the intertext, that the text does not signify unless as a function of a complementary or contradictory intertextual homologue (1984:1423). Intertextuality, thus, is a must. But, if intertextuality depends mainly on the reader's response, the question is raised here: When exactly does the reader feel the need of intertextuality and what are its literary functions? The answers are provided by Riffaterre in "Hermeneutic Models", where he states that the readers practice intertextuality in two cases. The first occurs when they are interpreting an obscure text by relating it to other texts, "without being quite able to figure out what justifies or motivates a particular turn of phrase or image, or the selection of this or that fictional episode" (Riffaterre 1983:7-8). The second case, as in Riffaterre’s "Compulsory Reader Response", occurs when readers feel that they cannot understand the text without relating it to other texts, or when they "perceive that something is missing from the text: gaps that need to be filled, references to an as yet unknown referent, references whose successive occurrences map out, as it were, the outline of the intertext still to be discovered" (Riffaterre 1990:56-7). Such references are called connectors, or in Kristeva's words, interpretants that occur when the reader feels that "there must be something missing in the text, a central "naught", like a purloined letter, from where the intertextual process takes off 6 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ (those "naughts" are called "interpretants," "connectors")" (Kristeva 2003:12).These connectors make intertextuality a must, for they help the reader understand the text and push him into finding more relations between the text and the intertext. Moreover, Riffaterre adds, "these connectors work by triggering presuppositions, by compelling the reader to recognize that the text makes sense by reference to meaning found neither within the verbal text nor within the author's idiolect but within an intertext" (1984:148). Riffaterre refers to these connectors as connectives, because they "belong equally in text and intertext, linking the two, and signaling in each the presence of their mutually complementary traits" (1990:58). In "Compulsory Reader Response", Riffaterre divides these connectives into two main categories- obligatory and aleatory, according to "the frequency of references to well-known intertexts, or just by chance encounters with them" (1990:58). Obligatory connectors are those direct references to a specific intertext, repeatedly used all over the text. Aleatory connectives are casual signs referring either to the same intertext or to other diverse ones. In all cases, as Riffaterre states in "Intertextuality vs. Hypertextuality", the text is never separated from the intertex. "What the text does not say, or say obscurely, the intertext spells out" (1994:781). Riffaterre gives deeper insights into this magic bond between the text and the intertext, illustrating the literary functions of intertextuality. At the beginning of his article, "Hermeneutic Models", Riffaterre lists three functions. He states that every literary text contains certain references guiding the reader towards a single interpretation of that text. In addition, the intertext provides "the context within which the text can make sense… the intertext thus offers a frame of thought or a signifying system that tells the reader how or where to look for a solution, or from what angle the text can be seen as decipherable" (Riffaterre 1983:7). Time and again, Riffaterre insists on the obligatory nature of intertextuality. In "Compulsory Reader Response", he declares that "Literature is indeed made of texts. Literariness, therefore, must be 7 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( sought at the level where texts combine, or signify by referring to other texts rather than to lesser sign system"(Riffaterre 1990:56). Riffaterre regards intertextuality as a new insightful reading of the text, or "a second reading possible and indeed compulsory" (1990:62). He ends the same article by concluding other functions of intertextuality, as follows: Intertextuality enables the text to represent, at one and the same time, the following pairs of opposites (within each of which the first item corresponds to the intertext): convention and departures from it, tradition and novelty, sociolect and idiolect, the already said and its negation or transformation. It explains also that intertextuality should be the one trope that modifies a whole text rather than a sentence or phrase, as a metaphor, say, or a synecdoche would (1990:76). Intertextuality is widely mistaken as hypertextuality. In his highly concise article, "Intertextuality vs. Hypertextuality", Riffaterre makes it crystal clear. First, intertextuality is a human reading process whereby readers look into the intertext in an attempt to understand the text, filling its missing gaps and seeking other hidden meanings by using only the deeply relevant connectors. In contrast, hypertextuality is "the use of computer to transcend the linearity of the written text by building an endless series of imagined connections, from verbal associations to possible worlds, extending the glosses or marginalia from the footnotes of yesteryear to metatext" (Riffaterre 1994:780). Second, generated by textuality, intertextuality goes beyond the text limits. It searches for elements of unity and significance of the text and its meanings using words, phrases and sentences. Unlikely, hypertextuality is built on the text, and, thus, seeks to widen the sign- systems of the text- its narrative, descriptive, thematic, as well as the text's social, cultural and historical backgrounds. At the very end of the article, Riffaterre, (1994:786), concludes the other two points. The third is that, intertextuality guides reading through the use of "linguistic network connecting the existing text with 8 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ other preexisting or future, potential texts". In contrast, hypertextuality is a "metalinguistic tool for the analysis and interpretation of an existing text. This analysis may go beyond the text producing variations on it". Fourthly, intertextuality "decontextualizes the text, focuses on its autotelism, and therefore its literariness". As for hypertextuality, it "contextualizes the text, analyzing literature in the light of what is not literature but what may lead to the creation of it". Finally, intertextuality is a closed circuit process of exchange between the text and the intertext in an attempt to judge the reader's response through literary communication. Hypertextuality, despite being open-ended and ever-developing exercise in creativity, "cannot distinguish between the creation of utterances that resemble literary ones and the generation of utterances that do not" 2-Application 2.1. Obligatory intertextuality From the first reading of Salwa Bakr 's Describing the Nightingale or Wasf Al-Bulbul, as it is used hereafter, one cannot avoid recalling the repeated references to the Chapter of Joseph in the Holy Quran as an obligatory intertextuality. Besides,there are many aleatory references to other Quranic texts in the Chapter of Abraham, An-Nur, Al-Ahzab, Al-Isra', Al-Ghashiyah, Mhammad and Al'Imran. In addition to these Quranic references, the novel lingers with diverse references to the Prophetic Sunnah, the Bible, Arabic and World literature, psychology, history, among many others. Wasf Al-Bulbul revolves around Hajar, a middle–aged widow, with only one son. Her husband died two years after their marriage. Since then, Hajar had lived only for her son and has refused all marriage proposals. Once, Hajar accompanied her son in his travel to another country to attend a conference. There, she met Yusuf, a smart, handsome, attractive young man who worked as a waiter in the hotel where she stayed. They fell in love with each other, and here lies the climax of the novel. Would Hajar stay and marry a man as young as her son for the sake of love or leave forever? 9 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( The intertext of the Chapter of Joseph – the love story of Joseph and Zulaykhah, in particular, dominates Bakr's novel. The more the reader looks into the novelistic text, the deeper the striking similarity between the two texts is felt. The characters, story, plot, and climax all compel the reader towards realizing obligatory intertextuality. Obligatory signs are those references alluding directly and repeatedly to the same intertext. It is the Chapter of Joseph, in this context. There are, at least, thirteen examples. Intention is the first element of intertextuality. The writer states, at the very beginning of her novel that the heroine, Hajar, is deeply influenced by what she has heard about Zulaykhah's story mentioned in the Holy Quran and repeated by her grandmother. The grandmother's tales had formed Hajar's consciousness since she was a child. Such a direct confession of the writer herself paves the way for the reader to the incoming net of signs. This chain of signs begins with the use of the exact names of characters as an obvious language feature. Such names are Yusuf, Hajar, Ibrahim, Safwat, Mahmoud, Saleh, among many others. The references to these names are mentioned later in the aleatory signs, except for Yusuf. These religious names reflect personal traits. On the character level, Yusuf/Joseph, as described in the Holy Quran, is a character both beautiful and attractive physically, besides being honest. From the first moment, Hajar admires Yusuf's beauty and soon falls in love with him. She likens his beauty to that of the moon (in terms of Arabic rhetoric), then, she describes him in detail: ‫ من‬،‫ وشعر أسود متماوج ال يحجب القفا الظاهر‬،‫"قد نحيل ممشوق‬ ‫ تعلو منكبين‬،‫ أبيض ناعما يبرز رقبة طويلة مترفعة‬،‫ياقة القميص‬ ‫ لم تحد ببصرها‬... ‫فسيحين يتسقان ولطف العود السمهري الشاب‬ ‫ وعن األنف‬،‫عن العينين الواسعتين اللتين تضمان الحدقتين الليليتين‬ "‫المستقيم والفم الرقيق وهذا الخد األسيل‬ A thin smart body with wavy black hair, short enough to uncover the white soft nape of his long neck that stands in glowing pride out of his shirt, having shoulders that stretch wide in harmony with 10 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ the good-looking gentle figure. She couldn’t keep her eyes away from those wide eyes with dark black pupils, the straight nose, the soft lips and the smooth cheeks" (Bakr 2012:187-8, translation ours).1 This novelistic description of Yusuf- the icon of beauty as mentioned in the Quranic text, promises the reader with other similarities at all levels. Riffaterre states in "Intertextual Representation" that, "The presence of lexical connectors makes the perception of intertextual references compulsory and inescapable" (1984:159). Hajar is not the only woman infatuated by Yusuf's beauty, but other women are. Hajar describes him as "a charming man desired by all women unanimously" (Bakr 2012: 290, translation ours). "‫"رجل رائع تتمناه النساء باألغلبية المطلقة‬ Yusuf himself could not deny such a fact. "You think you are the only woman who showed interest and fell in love with me? I know I'm attractive, Hagar; desired by women. I had known women before I met you, and even got seduced at an early age" (Bakr 2012:251, translation ours) ‫"هل تظنين أنك المرأة األولى التى اهتمت بى‬ ‫ أعرف أننى وسيم يا‬... ‫ووقعت فى غرامى‬ ،‫ لقد عرفت نساء قبلك‬،‫ تشتهيني النساء‬،‫هاجر‬ " ... ‫بل واغتصبتنى نساء فى مطلع شبابى‬ The context here as well as aspects of the meaning intertextually echo the Quranic verse no.31, in the Quranic chapter Joseph: ‫"فَلَ ّما‬ 2 ّ ّ َ‫( َرأَينَهٌ أَكبَرنَهٌ َوق‬And when they saw him, they so admired "‫طعن أَيدي ُهن‬ him that they cut their hands, saying, 'God save us! This is no mortal; he is no other but a noble angel.) Character traits go beyond the similarity in name and physical appearance. Honesty is another common personal characteristic in the two texts. In the Quranic text, Yusuf is always referred to as "The Truth Teller"/"The Honest" as an innate characteristic of his. In Wasf Al-Bulbul, Hajar admires Yusuf's honesty. She deeply trusts him and believes whatever he says, "In life, there are moments when one doesn’t know how truthful they 11 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( are. Still, there is something hidden in us that functions as a selfcompass; I felt Yusuf were really truthful." (Bakr 2012: 239, translation ours) ،‫"في الحياة لحظات ال يعرف المرء كيف يقيس صدقها‬ ،‫ثمة شيء خفي بداخل كل منا يكون بوصلة للصدق‬ ْ ".‫شعرت أن يوسف صادق فيما يقول حقا‬ The Quranic intertextuality, represented here in the cooccurrence and frequency of the word honesty, serves two literary functions. First, it turns the love story from a physical and sexual to a spiritual, Platonic one. Second, it is a turning point in Hajar's life, in general, and her relations with men in particular. After her twoyear marriage that ended with the death of her husband, Hagar has purposefully kept herself away from all men, "whom she considers nothing but creatures, species like horses, lions, fish, without the least feelings towards" (Bakr 2012:209, translation ours) ‫ نوع من الكائنات‬،‫"كائنات ليس إال‬ ‫ وال‬،‫ أو األسماك‬،‫ أو األسود‬،‫كاألحصنة‬ "‫توجد لديها أية مشاعر خاصة تجاهها‬ In contrast, Yusuf is a spotless character. He is too good to be true. He is honest, kind, sincere, gentle, attractive and loving. Hajar tells Yusuf: ‫ لم أكن أبحث أبدا عن رجل أعتقد فيه‬،‫"ولكنها نظرية الصدق‬ ‫ فكل‬،‫ بعدما اصطدمت في مطلع حياتي برجل الكذب‬،‫الصدق‬ ‫ مثل رجلي الذى مات‬،‫الرجال باتوا فى نظري كاذبين مخادعين‬ ‫وهو يعرف أنه سيموت ولم يكلف خاطره بمصارحتي أو‬ "‫مواجهتي‬ "It is the theory of honesty. I never searched for a man whom I thought honest after I had encountered at the beginning of my life the man of lies. In my eyes, all men have become liars and cheaters; just like my man who died while he had been knowing he would die and cared not the least to tell me the truth or to face me" (Bakr 2012: 242, translation ours) In fiction, intertextuality is many- faceted as Riffaterre mentions in "Fear of Theory". Riffaterre states that, "in the case of 12 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ fiction, the narrative given is likely to be situational, which is easily done in a narrow verbal stretch, because all possible dramatic situations are variants of a finite number of invariants (themes-motifsnarrative structures)"(Riffaterre 2003:193).Concerning themes, the main intertextual pattern in Wasf-al Bulbul is the parallel between the love story of Yusuf and Zulaykhah mentioned in The Quranic Chapter, Joseph, verse no.30, and the love story of Yusuf and Hajar in Bakr's novel, Wasf alBulbul."‫ َوقَال نِسوةُ فى المدينة أمرأتُ العزيز تُراود فتاها عن نفسه قد شغفها حبا‬. (Certain women that were in the city said, 'The Governor's wife has been soliciting her page; he smote her heart with love; we see her in manifest error.) Hajar has read and heard about Zulaykhah from her grandmother's tales and has long sympathized with her. "Only now, after I have fallen deeply in love, I pitied Zulaykhah"(Bakr 2012: 290, translation ours). Thus, the pre-text of the Chapter of Joseph lingers deeply in the consciousness of the heroine and the author. From this love story, many references and sub-texts to the same pre-text emerge. Infatuated enough as a young child by the story of Zulaykhah, the little Hajar innocently asks her grandmother, "Is it true grandma that each woman cut her hand and they bled when they saw Joseph? It is really strange! But now at these moments if she had an apple in her hand, she would cut her palm instead. She is infatuated, excited and worried like the women around the wife of the Chief " (Bakr 2012:191, translation ours). ( !‫" هل صحيح يا نينة أن كل واحدة قطعت يدها ونزل الدم منها لما شافت سيدنا يوسف؟‬ ‫ لقطعت راحتها‬،‫ لو كان في يدها تفاحة‬،‫ لكن اآلن فى هذه اللحظات‬.‫شىء غريب فعال‬ "‫ مضطربة كصاحبات امرأة العزيز‬،‫ مأخوذة‬،‫ إنها مبهورة‬:‫بدال منها‬ The direct reference to the Quranic text is easily remarked as in the Quranic Chapter, Joseph, verse no. 31: ْ َ‫س ِمع‬ ‫سلت ْ إليهن وأَعتدت لَ ُهن ّ ُمتَكَئأ‬ َ ‫كره ِّن أَر‬ َ ‫"فَلَ ّما‬ ِ ‫ت بِ َم‬ ٌ‫علَي ِه ّن فَلَ ّما َرأَينَه‬ ُ ‫وءاَتت ٌك ّل َوا ِحد ٍة ِمن ُه ّن ِس ِكينا َوقَالت‬ َ ‫اخرج‬ ّ َ‫أَك َبرنَهٌ َوق‬ " ‫طعن أَيدي ُه ّن‬ When she heard their sly whispers, she sent to them, and made ready for them a repast, then 13 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( she gave to each one of them a knife. 'Come forth, attend to them,' she said. And when they saw him, they so admired him that they cut their hands Just as the love story of Hajar and Yusuf is closely linked to that of Zulaykhah and Yusuf, it is also distanced from it in the course of the novel. In the Quranic text, as it is widely known, such love story is one-sided. It is Zulaykhah who is infatuated by Yusuf's beauty and tries to tempt him. In Bakr's novel, however, it is a mutual love. Both Hajar and Yusuf exchange love. Moreover, Bakr makes Yusuf the one who begins temptation, "I love you, and you love me too, I desire you and you do too… I have found the woman that I truly loved her and she truly loved me, and that I have awaited for ages " ( ‫ لقد‬...‫ أشتهيك وتشتهيني‬،‫ وأنت تحبينني‬،‫أنا أحبك‬ ‫( )وجدت المرأة التي أحبها وتحبنى وانتظرتها وتنتظرني منذ آالف السنين‬Bakr 2012:239, translation ours). Yusuf tries to convince Hajar that their love is not temporary. It is lasting and immortal, beginning thousands of years ago: ‫" فمنذ آالف السنين تكونت جينات رجل له صفات جيناتى أحب‬ ‫ إذ‬،‫امرأة لها صفات جيناتك ولهذا تحابينا منذ الوهلة األولى‬ ‫انتقلت ذاكرة جينات الرجل الذى عاش فى الماضى البعيد إلى‬ ‫جيناتى وذاكرة جينات المرأة القديمة إلى جيناتك فتحابينا وعشق‬ "‫كل منا اآلخر‬ "for thousands of years the genes of a man have been formulated with the same genes like mine, and who loved a woman with the same genes like yours. That’s why we fell in love at first glance. The memory recorded in the genes of the man who lived in the far past was transmitted to my genes, while the memory of the genes of the past woman was carried to your genes, and that’s why we fell in love " (Bakr 2012: 242, translation ours) This is Bakr's own interpretation of the pre-text of the love story— an interpretation that is accepted and justifiable according to her protagonist. Bakr to a great extent triggers an association 14 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ with a Quranic verse in the Chapter of Joseph, no 23, that Joseph was affected in somehow by the woman’s love: (though his respect for his master and his fear of Allah eventually stopped him): )23 ‫ اآلية‬:‫"َولَقَد ّهمت به وه ّم بها لوال أن ّرءا بٌرهَن َر ِبه" (سورة يوسف‬ For she desired him; and he would have taken her, but that he saw the proof of his Lord. Time and again, Bakr foregrounds the love story itself, regardless of who tempts the other. "Whether I tempted a young man of the same age as my son or the other way round; I don’t know which is more exact, but which truth that I would care for if the only truth I knew was that I loved him?" (Bakr 2012: 243, translation ours) ‫"فإما‬ ‫ أنا ال‬:‫ أو أن شابا فى عمر ابنى قد غرر بي‬،‫أن أكون قد غررت بشاب فى عمر ابنى‬ "‫ لكن أية حقيقة تعنينى اآلن غير أنى أحبه؟‬،‫أعرف أيهما أدق فى الحقيقة‬ This remarkable age disparity between the couple goes again in line with the Quranic text. The difference in social position between Hajar and Yusuf is the same difference between Zulaykha and Yusuf. In the Quranic text, Yusuf works at Potiphar's palace- as one of his and his wife's servants. In Wasf Al-Bulbul, Yusuf works as a waiter in the hotel where Hajar stays as a guest. He serves her all the time, whether downstairs in the hall or upstairs in room service. Besides, Hajar works as a manager at the company of precious metals. As a lemma, the precious metals can refer, on the one hand, to the richness of the two ladies on both stories. On the other hand, it refers to Joseph’s job, as mentioned in the Holy Quran: ٌ ‫األرض إنّى َحفَي‬ )54 :‫علي ُم" ( سورة يوسف‬ ‫على خَزَ ائن‬ ِ َ ‫ظ‬ َ ‫"قَا َل اجْ َعلنى‬ He said, 'Set me over the land's storehouses; I am a knowing guardian. Another similarity between the two texts is Yusuf's relationship with his family members. In the Quranic text, Yusuf's half-brothers envy and hate him because their father loves him most. Feeling jealous, they get rid of him by throwing him into a deep well. In the novelistic text, Yusuf has only one half-sister but they are not on good terms with one another. (Baker 2012:244). The character of Yusuf as Bakr models it is a student of philosophy 15 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( who is highly educated and far-sighted. He understands well and foresees the future. Such character traits resemble those in the Quranic text. Yusuf's dreams always come true. In addition; he is versed in interpreting them. )6 ‫ اآلية‬:‫"وكذلك يجتبيك ربٌكَ ويٌعَلّ ُمك َ ِمن تأويل األحاديث" (يوسف‬ "So will thy Lord choose thee, and teach thee the interpretation of tales" This shift from being a mirror to the pre-text to turning against it has been agreed upon and justified by Riffaterre in "Fear of theory", "The text, therefore, contains both the model for interpretation, and the derivation whose modalities and status as a work of art are generated through departures from the model, departure that can only be measured and evaluated in terms of the model"(2003:194). One of these departures is the end of the love story. In the Quranic text, the story ends with confession, regret and repentance. Separation follows soon after. Bakr's novel, however, ends with the resurrection and unity of the two lovers, to live together for the end of their lives. Another aspect of novelty in Bakr's text is the idea of dialogue, conversation and interaction between Hajar and Yusuf. In the Quranic text, there is only one dialogue between Zulaykhah and Yusuf, which occurs in the temptation scene. As Riffaterre has stated that the intertextuality in fiction rests on dramatic situations, the reader can find many in Wasf Al-Bulbul. The novel reaches its climax at chapter three with the long love scene of Hajar and Yusuf. Directly after, Yusuf has gifted Hajar a small colored firestone which he hangs around her neck by a thick black thread. Yusuf cherishes this stone as it is a reminder / souvenir of his dead mother. On the one hand, this mascot symbolizes the past. On the other hand, it may refer to the Holy Black Stone in Kaaba- which is mentioned in aleatory references. The study of symbolism is closely related to intertextual studies, as Julia Krestiva states, "the concept of intertextuality began resonating with some other concepts that I was working out, namely that of …the semiotic / symbolic and their trans-verbal meaning"(2003:9). A vivid symbol, which is another element of 16 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ novelty in Bakr's text, is the use of the nightingale. It is the main symbol in the novel, as the title refers, Wasf Al-Bulbul or Describing the Nightingale. The description of the nightingale, here, has three functions. First, the presence of the nightingale with its melodious sweet songs romanticizes the love story which appears physical in the two texts, epecially the Quranic text, as Abdullah Yusuf Ali describes Zulaykhah's passion as "Woman's prank- the madness of sex-love" (147). The unseen nightingale stands for the unattainable love, for Hajar only listens to the voice without seeing the bird (El-Enani 2006:402). Whenever Hajar listens to the nightingale, she remembers Yusuf, "Oh God! How much I love and adore that face! Yes, I adore that face that came to me with the nightingale’s voice and the sunshine. Before closing my eyes to sleep I see him incarnated in front of me at every moment" (Bakr 2012: 227, translation ours). ( ‫"يا إلهى كم أحب وأعشق‬ ‫ وقبل‬،‫هذا الوجه! أجل أنا أعشق هذا الوجه الذى أتانى مع تغريد البلبل وسطوع الشمس‬ "‫ في كل لحظة أراه متجسدا‬،‫إغماض جفني ألنام‬ There are many references linking the singing of the nightingale and Yusuf's face. "the nightingale’s voice started to run smoothly and magically in her ears; nothing has its unique originality and beauty. It’s Yusuf’s beautiful face that came to her mind " (Bakr 2012:288, translation ours): ،‫"وأخذ صوت البلبل ينساب فى أذنيها ناعما‬ "‫ حضرها وجه يوسف الجميل‬.‫ ليس كمثله صوت فى البداعة والجمال‬،‫ساحرا‬ The second function of the nightingale is that it symbolizes the past. It is one of the symbols the author uses to refer repeatedly to the past. As a child, Hajar used to listen to the nightingale without being able to see it, till she felt asleep. The nightingale remains a happy dream of the young child: ‫" تظل الطفلة الصغيرة مأخوذة بلحن البلبل حتى يغالبها النعاس مرة‬ "‫أخرى‬ “The child remains infatuated with the nightingale’s tune until she nods once more” (Bakr 2012: 209, translation ours) The third function is that the nightingale refers to Hajar's inner peace. The more she listens to the nightingale, the happier she gets: ‫صلح مع نفسها والحياة يداخلها بشكل لم تعرفه‬ ٌ ‫ و‬،‫"صفاء غريب يتسلل إليها‬ 17 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( ‫“ منذ سنوات طويلة ممتدة من عمرها‬A strange state of tranquility creeps into her as well as a reconciliation with herself and life that she has not experienced for long years of her life” ((Bakr 2012:211,translation ours) Such happiness is about to end with the end of chapter three when Yusuf asks Hajar to choose between marrying him or leaving him forever. Otherwise, she is a flirting woman. Both surprised and shocked, Hajar slashes Yusuf on his face. Shortly after, Hajar regrets and feels she has committed a sin. She asks Yusuf to forgive her and begs his pardon, but in vain. She pleads him: ‫يوسف‬ ‫( اغفر لي ذلك‬Baakr 2012:254, translation ours) (Forgive me, Yusuf), recalling the Quranic text/verse: ‫نبك‬ ِ َ‫ٌف أَعرض عن هذا واستغفرى ِلذ‬ ٌ ‫"يٌوس‬ ٌ ّ "‫الخاطئين‬ ‫(إنكَ كنت من‬Joseph, turn away from this; and thou, woman, ِ ask forgiveness of thy crime; surely thou art one of the sinners.) The novel reaches its peak. Hajar leaves angrily, but before she reaches the end of the tunnel, she has to choose. Riffaterre notes in "Fear of Theory", "as the sequence of events unfolds from the situational given, at each point where a character is faced with a choice, at each proairesis, narrative predictability is reduced to very few solutions"(2003:193).The solutions available for Hajar now are staying or departure. It is a dilemma for her, as she is torn between her love for Yusuf and her duty as a mother. At last, she decides to leave. While packing her bags, Hajar picks out the dress she was wearing when she spent her night with Yusuf. Hajar holds the dress, breathes it; its scent- Yusuf's scent. She remembers Yusuf, "I insinuated my nose into his back, smelling his scent through that light white shirt […]”; “I traced the smell of Yusf in it, and I decided never to wash it, never to wear it again, and to keep it as a memoir; it’s the unforgettable memory of Yusuf" (Bakr 2012:242,270, translation ours). ‫"دسستُ أنفى فى ظهره وتنشقت رائحته عبر القميص‬ ‫ قررت أال‬،‫تنسمت رائحة يوسف فيه‬....‫األبيض الشفيف‬ ‫ وأال أرتديه بعد ذلك مطلقا وأن أحتفظ به‬،‫أغسله أبدا‬ "‫ ذكرى يوسف المستحيلة‬،‫للذكرى‬ The direct reference to the Chapter of Joseph is remarkable enough to end this section of obligatory signs with-93.‫سف‬ ُ ‫ُيو‬ ُ ‫"إني أل َ ِجدُ َريج‬ 18 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ " 94('Surely I perceive Joseph's scent). Actually, it is the spirit and scent of the Chapter of Joseph that spreads and dominates the novel, in general, and obligatory signs, in particular. 2.2. Aleatory intertextuality The Chapter of Joseph, as far as this paper has discussed, is the only obligatory intertext, being frequently referred to in Wasf Al-Bulbul. However, in the following section of the paper, the researchers attempt to provide as many diverse pre-texts, as possible. These diverse pre-texts are called aleatory references that are obviously used by the author to give a deeper understanding of the text. Such use of diverse intertexts is a must , according to Judith Smith and Michael Worton, because, "the writer is a reader of texts ( in the broadest sense) before s/he is a creator of texts, and therefore the work of art is inevitably shot through with references, quotations and influences of every kind"(1990:1). Whether it is obligatory or aleatory to refer to, the love story of Yusuf and Hajar will remain at the core of both the text and the intertexts, because romance is the most vivid example of literary intertextuality. Hannah Jacobmeyer adds: "Romance as a narrative form asks for an intertextual capacity on the part of the reader. It can be composed of various elements which can be weighted differently such as symbols and themes (death, love, repentance, resurrection, names and figures, interlacement techniques and narrative style "(1998: 97). Names and figures, in particular, dominate aleatory intertextuality, as the following section attempts to illustrate. Yusuf is the main name referred to repeatedly all over the novel. Infatuated as always she is by the figure of Yusuf, Hajar quotes the Chapter of An-Nur to describe his shinning, attractive face. She describes how Zulaykhah and her friends have been infatuated by Yusuf's beauty, which is likened to "a brilliant star": " "‫ مبهورات بالطلعة البهية للكوكب الدري المطل عليهن‬،‫”وهن مأخوذات مبهوتات‬ (They were taken aback, amazed and infatuated by the shining rise of his face, of the incandescent star that has come out” ((Bakr 2012:191, translation ours). This associates, in terms of understandability, with the Quranic verse (35‫الزجاجةٌ كأنها كوكبٌ " النور‬ ‫( )"دٌرى‬the glass as it were a glittering star). Even in her dreams, 19 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( Hajar never forgets Yusuf. Time and again, she is awakened by the singing of the nightingale that always reminds her of Yusuf. Once, Hajar is awakened at downtime, the time when the nightingale sings, “and the image of Yusuf's face came to her mind in full: the dark black smooth hair, and the wide black eyes that seem as they were navigating in the dusk" (Bakr 2012: 209, translation ours) ‫ والعينين الواسعتين‬،‫ الشعر الفاحم المسترسل‬،‫"ارتسمت فى مخيلتها صورة وجهه كاملة‬ "‫المبحرتين فى غسق الليل‬. The text is here associated, in terms of understandability, with the Quranic Chapter, Al-Israhh, verse no. ّ ‫صالة ِلدٌلٌوك ال‬ 78: "‫سق ِ الليل‬ َ ‫مس إلى‬ ّ ِ ‫( "أَ ِق ِم ال‬Perform the prayer at the ِ ‫ش‬ َ ‫غ‬ sinking of the sun to the darkening of the night) Not only does Hajar admire Yusuf's appearance, but she also likes the way he sees things, even if it seems strange to her. As a student of philosophy, Yusuf, like the author, does not believe in the herd instinct. He refuses all forms of old worn traditions, because, for him, they are valueless. "They neither nourish nor avail against hunger", echoing the same words of the Chapter of Al-Ghashiyah, verse no.7: "‫جوع‬ ‫"ال يُسمن وال يُغنى من‬ ٍ ‫ ال عالقة للفلسفة‬،‫ ال عالقة لألفكار‬،‫"هذة هى مشكلتنا بالضبط‬ ،‫ نعيش بأفكار من سبقونا‬،‫ ال نتخيل السؤال‬،‫ ألننا ال نفكر‬،‫بحياتنا‬ " ‫ قطيع قديم هزيل ال يسمن وال يغنى من جوع‬،‫بأفكار القطيع‬ "That’s our problem exactly. Thoughts and philosophy have nothing to do with our lives for we do not think; we don’t imagine the question. We live by the thoughts of our predecessors, the thoughts of the herd; a fragile herd that neither nourishes nor avails against hunger” (Bakr 2012: 251, translation ours) The Quranic metonymy of uselessness refers to the repeatedly used links between the past and the present. Here, the author assures the valuelessness of these old traditions, on the one hand, and paves the way for the reader to accept Hajar's decision at the end of the novel, on the other hand. Unexpectedly, Hajar revolts against all 20 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ old traditions, throws them behind her back and goes forward to her new road - the road not taken. Torn between her love for Yusuf and her desire to stay and marry him, and her love for her son, Hajar is entrapped into a net of nightmares. In one of these nightmares, Hajar sees both herself and Yusuf in a shallow wide ford of rotten stagnant water (Bakr 2012:286). The ugliness of the scene contrasts the beautiful description of Paradise, as mentioned in the Chapter of Muhammad, through the use of both the negative and positive sense of the word ‘water’: ‫"هى ويوسف فى مخاضة ضحلة واسعة من الماء‬ "‫اآلسن العفن‬. Now, consider the Quranic association: )15 : ‫َير ءا ِسن" (سورة محمد‬ ِ ‫" َمثَ ُل ال َجنِ ِة التى ُو ِعد ال ُمتّقُون فيها أَنها ُر من ماءٍ غ‬ "This is the similitude of Paradise which the Godfearing have been promised: therein are rivers of water unstaling." Another example of syllepsis occurs when Hagar describes her wedding night and how violently her husband has gratified his desire from her (i.e. married her).: ‫ اقتحامه لجسدى‬،‫"تذكرت ليلة زفافى‬ "‫" وقضاء وطره منى‬I remembered my wedding night when he took his utmost out of my body and relieved himself" (Bakr 2012: 240, Translation ours). This recalls Al-Ahzab Quranic chapter; verse َ ‫ضى زَ يدٌ ِمنها َو‬ (37) ‫طرا ِز ّوجناكها ِلكى ال يكونَ على المؤمنين حر ُج فى‬ َ َ‫" فل ّما ق‬ "‫قضوا من ُه ّن وطرا وكان أ ُمر هللا مفعوال‬ ‫أزواج أدعيائِهم إذا‬ "So when Zaid had ْ ِ accomplished what he would of her, then We gave her in marriage to thee, so that there should not be any fault in the believers, touching the wives of their adopted sons, when they have accomplished what they would of them; and God's commandment must be performed". As a dominant figure of the novelistic text, Yusuf is referred to in other pre- texts besides the Holy Quran. Bakr pays a great attention to the description of Yusuf and how far Hajar and other women are charmed by his beauty. Beauty and women are two sides of the same coin, for beauty is the dominant theme in all Bark's works. Bakr values beauty as an inner and outer human characteristic. She calls for the beauty of nature in many of her 21 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( short stories like "Worms at the Flower Garden", "Thirty-one Beautiful Green Trees", among many others. Along with the search for beauty, is women's search for all their rights, same as men. In this novel, Bakr defends women's right of having a handsome partner, quoting from the Prophetic tradition/Sunnah: ‫"تزينوا لنسائكم‬: " ‫" فإنهن يحببن منكم ما تحبون منهن‬Beautify (i.e., seek good-looking) for your women as they like from you whatever you like from them." Bakr clarifies that women do not only care for the social and financial status of the man, as before, but they do care about his appearance as well. Despite being a rich pharmacist, Hajar's exhusband was hateful. She never liked him nor his serious frightful features. Quoting from Sunnah does not stop here. Thinking of her own situation and the possibility of marrying a man as young as her son; Hajar compares herself to Khadija – the Prophet's wife. "Our Prophet Muhammad married Khadija, who was fifteen years older, and there seemed no problem with this. But would you dare compare yourself to Khadija, Hajar? Bless you!" (Bakr 2012: 270; Translation ours): ‫ كانت تكبره‬،‫" سيدنا محمد تزوج من السيدة خديجة‬ ‫ ولم يتحدث أحد عن أى مشكلة فى‬،‫بخمس عشرة سنة‬ " ‫ ولكن هل أنت السيدة خديجة ياهاجر؟! حاشا هلل‬.‫ذلك‬ Intentionally, Bakr has selected these stories in which the woman is older than the man, through different periods and religions, to fulfill a threefold purpose: first, to make it a general case/ statement , second, to prepare the audience gradually into accepting such marriage and finally, to direct women into changing these old traditions that the society has imprisoned them inside centuries ago, since the story of Yusuf and Zulaykhah. This story overwhelms the writer to return to it time and again, quoting the Chapter of Joseph, at the end of the soliloquy "Allah forbid"(Bakr 2012: 270). )31 :‫ش هلل ما هَذا َبشَرا إن هَذا إالّ َملَكُ ك َِري ُم" (يوسف‬ َ ‫" وقلن َح‬ … saying, 'God save us! This is no mortal; he is no other but a noble angel.' 22 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ In addition to the Holy Quran and the Sunnah, Wasf Al-Bulbul has many references to both Arabic and World literature. On her way to meet Yusuf for the first time, Hajar has prepared some words of blame and rebuke to tell Yusuf. But, as soon as the door is opened, Hajar stands speechless and motionless as a stone, quoting, with latitude, the pre-Islamic poet, Imru- al-Qays's lines: "‫صخر حطه السيل من ع ٍل‬ ‫" "كجلمود‬As quick as a rock dropped down by ٍ the flood from a high place"; just as follows ْ " ‫"وقفت كجلمود صخر لم يحطه السيل من عل‬ (She was taken aback, stood as still as a rock never dropped down by flood!) (Bakr 2012: 237, Translation ours) World literature is abundant with many examples similar to Hajar's case in Wasf Al-Bulbul. Intentionally, Bakr has selected some world famous stories of ladies who were torn between the unattainable love and unsuccessful marriage, such as Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, so as to make Hajar's case a general world problem representing the same problem of many women in different countries along history, since Zulaykhah to the present. Bakr's arabesque-like technique "allows multiple perspectives and storylines to coexist within the frame narrative…arabesque as a narrative mode is based on fragmentary and episodic narration, reflecting the ritual repetitions of oral narratives. This narrative style allows Bakr to include different narrative styles as well as different stories of women along with the frame narrator's story", as Yildiz (2019:150) has mentioned in a similar vein. Wasf al- Bulbul and Anna Karenina revolve around women's search for love through a continuous process of comparison between the husband and the lover. The two heroinesHajar and Anna, return to their childhood in order to understand their present. The former finds that women's history is a series of continuous suffering from the unattainable love due to worn traditions, so, she decides to take action and care for nothing but her love. Hajar begins to live anew. The latter fails to confront society. Anna can live happily neither with the husband nor with the lover. At last she commits suicide and ends her life. 23 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( More obvious is the intertextuality between Wasf al – Bulbul and Madame Bovary, where the first wife of Bovary is both older and richer than the husband. The first wife, as Hajar's first husband, died after long struggle with illness. The second wife, Emma, never feels happy with her husband. She spends her life searching for a lover and compares everyone to her husband, only to feel worse. Like Anna, she cannot live happily with her husband nor with any of the three lovers she has encountered through the course of the novel. Like Anna, too, Emma gets rid of such struggle by committing suicide. By the same token, Bakr mentions Don Juan and Valentine, the world two most famous adored male icons representing love, romance and charm, so as to link the past with the present. Bak's idea is that women have the same right of searching for men's beauty and charm, as men do regarding women. Bakr is so possessed by the idea of beauty that in an interview she asks for a handsome, young president of Egypt ("Salwa Bakr asks"). The reader feels that Bakr lives a continuous amazing state of intertextuality between her personal life and her literary work. The fish the researchers net here is that there is not only intertextuality between Wasf Al-Bulbul and other texts, but within the novelistic text itself. Hajar, the heroine of Wasf AlBulbul, compares herself to the other heroines of Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, so as to finalize her choice. This is the end of literature, in general, and literary intertextuality, in particular, to help one evaluate one's own situation with relations to others. Yusuf and Hajar are not the only characters referred to in this section – aleatory intertextuality. Other figures such as Ibrahim, Saleh, and Maryam are alluded to. With the introduction of new characters, new intertexts are employed. Hajar's first marriage forms a net of references to the Old Testament. Hajar's dead husband has not been named, but has been identified by his profession as a pharmacist. He was as old as her father. Being ill of an incurable disease, and knowing for sure that he is going to die soon, he has married Hajar only for the sake of having children. Hajar bitterly remembers: 24 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ ‫ طفال يحمل اسمه ويحفظ ثروته بعد‬،‫"كان يريد وريثا فقط‬ ‫ وعاء كنت‬،‫اختارنى ألكون ذريعة المتداده فى الحياة‬... ‫وفاته‬ ‫ وأداة انتقاها ودفع ثمنها‬،‫أنا للحفاظ على نوعه من اإلنقراض‬ " ‫لتكون معبرا للذاكرة إليه بعد موته‬ "He only wanted an heir, a child that bears his name and keep his fortune after his death… He only chose me to be a pretext for extending his offspring; just like a vessel, I was so; only to save his kind from extinction. I was only a tool he has chosen and paid for so that it could be a passage to his remembrance after his death." ((Bakr 2012:241-3, translation ours) The story reminds the reader of the Prophet Abrahm (Peace be upon him) who married Hajar for the same reason. ‫َب لى على ا ِلك َب ِر إسماعيل وإس َحق إن ربى‬ َ ‫" الحمدٌ ِِلل الذي َوه‬ )39 :‫سمي ٌع الدعاء" (إبراهيم‬ َ َ‫ل‬ "Praise be to God, who has given me, though I am old, Ishmael and Isaac; surely my Lord hears the petition". From the main story of Hajar and Ibrahim in the Old Testament, some plots, or in Riffaterre's words," sub- texts" emerge. In his article, "The Intertextual Unconscious", Riffaterre adds: "A second category of the intertextual unconscious involves subtexts, fully developed narrative units that are embedded in the main narrative and sometimes scattered through it"(1987:380). In both the text and the intertext, Hajar has only one boy. By the same token, the two ladies are Egyptians while the two men, Abraham and Yusuf, are from different nationalities- Hebrew and Lebanese, respectively. Abraham's first wife-Sarah, felt jealous when Hajar had a boy. Accordingly, Abraham took Hajar and the newly-born baby and fled to the desert- namely Mekka, out of fear:") ‫" َربنَا إنى‬ )37 ‫سورة ابراهيم‬. "‫َزرع عند بيتك الٌم َح ّرم‬ ‫( أَسكنتٌ من ذٌ ّريتى بوا ٍد غَير ذِى‬Our ٍ Lord, I have made some of my seed to dwell in a valley where is no sown land by Thy Holy House). Similarly, in the novelistic text, Yusuf left the false life of the city and fled to the mountains, to be away from all people. 25 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( ‫ سأبنى‬،‫ قطعة صغيرة‬،‫"ورثتٌ عن أبى قطعة أرض فى الجبل‬ ‫على جزء منها بيتا صغيرا نعيش معا فيه وأقوم بزراعة الجزء‬ "‫الباقي‬ "I inherited a plot of land at the mountain from my father. I will build a small home to live in altogether on a part of it; and I will cultivate the other." (Bakr 2012:252, Translation ours) It has been maintained, earlier in this paper, the intertext can agree or disagree with the text, for literary purposes. In the novelistic text, Ibrahim is not Hajar's husband, but her son's fatherin-law. Yet, the text is abundant with many examples of sexual flirtations from Dr.Ibrahim to Hajar, beginning with words of admiration and praise to the attempt of sexual harassment. This casual deviation of the text is justifiable from Riffaterre's point of view, as he puts it in "Fear of Theory": Readers have at their disposal the same familiar elements, the only difference being that they are given in summary and implied form before transformation and then developed at length with new implications after transformation. The interpreter's task, little more than being conscious of what one reads and why, is dictated and directed by the difference between the pre- and posttransformations versions of the given (2003:194) The interpreter of Wasf al- Bulbul notices the indirect reference to Mary, the Virgin, and her only son, Jesus. Both Hajar and Mary/Maryam suffer from the bitter attack of their societies. Hajar cares most about her son, Saleh and his fame and reputation. She is worried to defame him by marrying Yusuf. She is also afraid of his reaction if he knows about her relationship with Yusuf, "Do you think Saleh will take it easy? He may accuse you of being mad and irresponsible. No. No. Seek refuge with Allah from the damned Satan" (Bakr 2012: 291, Translation ours) ‫"وهل تظنين أن‬ 26 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ ‫ أليس من المحتمل أن يحجر عليك بتهمة العته‬،‫صالحا َ سيدع األمر يمر ببساطة‬ "‫ ال‬.‫ ال‬.‫)والجنون؟ اعقلي واستعيذى باهلل من الشيطان الرجيم‬ Hajar's last words echo those of Imran's wife, for her newly-born Mary, in the Quranic Chapter, Aal Imran, verse no.36 ‫"وإنّى أ ُ ِعيذُها بك‬ َ ‫( وذُريتها من الشي‬And I … commend her to Thee with her "‫ط ِن الرجيم‬ seed, to protect them from the accursed Satan) Beyond the pinpointing of intertextuality – the main theoretical framework of this paper, a closely relative approach, hermeneutics, can be shown in two or three examples in Wasf al – Bulbul. In his article, "Hermeneutic Models", Michael Riffaterre, illustrates that it is not a necessity for hermeneutics to cover the whole text. Hermeneutic models are used only when a situation seems "obscure" or " ambiguous", or when the reader cannot understand what " motivates a particular turn of phrase or image, or the selection of this or that fictional episode…Indeed, the model is made out of the presuppositions of the word, phrase, sentence, or text that resists deciphering, or whose reason for being is hard to judge, or seems totally absent"(1983:7-8). One example of this obscurity is the titles chosen by Bakr for the six chapters of her novel: ‫( يوم دبار‬the day of Dobar), ‫( يوم مؤنس‬the Day of Mo’nis), ‫( يوم عروبية‬the Day of ‘Uroba), ‫يوم شيار‬ (the Day of Shyar), ‫( يوم أول‬the Day of Awal) and ‫( يوم أهون‬the Day of Ahoun). Rasheed El-Enani argues that these names are the pre-Islamic names of the days of the week. His interpretation is worth quoting fully: By using those obsolete names of the days that belong to pre-Islamic times, the author is trying to point the reader in the direction of the story of Hagar: according to Muslim tradition, Hagar had come to Makkah with her child Isma'il, who later assisted his father in rebuilding the Ka'bah shrine. The fact that the action is completed in six days, on the last of which the heroine makes a radical choice that will change her life, may be meant to parallel the creation of the world in six days, after 27 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( which, God rested in the seventh as religious texts depict. It would seem that it took the protagonist six days in order to undo the patriarchal world that God created and that in the seventh she would rest by entering into the new world she has chosen for herself, in defiance of the values of the old one! (2006:401, fn.). Hajar's first marriage was frustrating, both physically and psychologically. Felt raped, Hajar has hated her ex-husband in particular, and all men, in general. Upon meeting Yusuf, Hagar felt how far she has been emotionally deprived and frustrated. In another hermeneutic example, El-Enani alludes Hajar's sexual dissatisfaction to that of Zulaykhah whom she pities. "Poor Zulaykha. No one knows how much she suffers" (Bakr 2012:290). El-Enani states that "Although the narrative does not allude to this, it is relevant in the context of reassessing the Qur'anic Zulaykhah to mention that historically, occupants of high office in Ancient Egyptian royal courts were normally eunuchs. Such is likely to have been the condition of Aziz Misr; his wife, Zulaykhah, would have been in all likelihood a wife only in name; an unfulfilled virgin in reality"(2006:400, fn.). Back to intertextuality, it remains one final element concerning Riffaterre's concept- the relationships between intertextuality and both psychology and history. Michael Riffaterre opens his article, "The Intertextual Unconscious", with the following words: "Literature is open to psychoanalysis as is any other form of expression" (1987:371). In the same respect, Julia Krestiva adds: "Intertextuality, once a formal phenomenon, led me to investigate its intrapsychic and psychoanalytic implications. The textual plurality was reframed as a mental activity able to open a psyche to the creative process"(2003:8-9). Any psychological reading of Wasf Al-Bulbul would revolve around the two protagonists- Hajar and Yusuf, and their love story. Psychologically, Hajar's inner conflict is called "Approach-Avoidance Conflict". This case occurs when one is torn between two extremes and/or two diametrically-opposed poles. 28 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ Each drags him/her into its direction by the same power/force. Hajar is torn between her desire and need for love as a woman, and her duties as a mother living in a society, who refuses such marriage. Hajar summarizes her dilemma as follows: ‫ ألننى فى قرارة نفسى أحب أن أخوض تجربة‬،‫"أنا متضايقة فعال‬ ،‫ أن أستمتع باكتشاف كائن مجهول بالنسبة لى لكنى جبانة‬،‫خاصة‬ "‫ال أمتلك شجاعة المغامرة‬ "I am so annoyed for I love to have my own private experience heart and soul; to enjoy the discovery of an unknown being, but I am a coward person who takes no adventure." (Bakr 2012:228, Translation ours) This psychological analysis goes in accordance with the intertextual one, as Riffaterre illustrates in "Compulsory Reader Response" : "Desire, sexual or otherwise, can only be represented in terms of a frustrated present , or of a future, in the anticipation of desire therefore contains an element of desirability ( hope, for example), and an element of interdiction. The latter prevents the former from attaining its goal"(1990:59). A second, yet more famous example of psychology is 'Oedipus Complex'. Riffaterre has referred to it in "The Intertextual Unconscious" saying, "Because of its universality, the Oedipus complex is bound to obtain in all of literature in general"(1987:372). Hajar, who does not believe that Yusuf may fall in love with her- a woman as old as his mother, attributes his love for her to Oedipus complex. In a soliloquy, Hajar reveals: "Maybe he is one of those young men who fall in love with women as old as their mothers. His mother died long ago. Maybe he suffers from a kind of Oedipus complex" (Bakr 2012: 251, translation ours). The more Hajar thinks of Yusuf, the more her doubts increase. She cannot be convinced that Yusuf's love for her is Platonic. She is afraid that he turns to be a psychopathic charactera character whose actions and sayings contradict his/her real feelings. 29 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( ‫ غالب ٍا ما‬،‫"قرأت ذات مرة أن الشخصيات الرقيقة من الرجال‬ ‫ وأنهم ينجحون فى اإليقاع بالنساء‬،‫تكون ذئابا فى صورة حمالن‬ "‫ نظرا للطفهم ورقتهم التى تجتذب فرائسهن الساذجات‬, ‫بسهولة‬ . "I have once read that silver-tongued men by far prove to be wolves in sheep's clothing. They easily manage to entrap women for being nice and sweet, which attracts their naive preys" (Bakr 2012: 225, translation ours). However, all Hajar's doubts come to an end when she believes Yusuf and falls in love with him. Moreover, she forgets about her physical and psychological pains. She adores Yusuf to the extent of seeing him in her day dreams, or what is called psychologically, Expectation. It is an unconscious state of fulfilling what one wants and desires. "Is it a mere chance that one thinks about a person then meets him after a while?” (Bakr 2012: 210, translation ours). Gradually, Hajar's psychological state moves from seeing and meeting Yusuf to reaching the climax of the relationship in a state of self-disclosure. Hajar and Yusuf have been identified as one soul in two bodies. Yusuf whispers to Hajar, "You see how far we are close, we look like each other as if twins" (Bakr 2012: 249, translation ours). Such a feeling is deepened semiologically by the audible song of a famous Algerian singer (Warda) on the background:" "‫ من قبل دا العالم كله‬،‫"روحي وروحك حبايب‬. "My soul and yours are soulmates even before the creation of this world" (Bakr 2012:228, translation ours). The choice of the song is not accidental, of course. It is another link between the past and the present. Obviously, the writer does her best to select different intertexts, so as to express the idea of continuity, on the one hand, and to add more to internal textuality within the novel, on the other hand. The choice of songs as well as the psycho analysis, reflect the author’s and her heroine's immense reading and knowledge. As Hajar, compares herself to the other heroines of Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary, and likens Yusuf to both Don Juan and Valentine so as to finalize her 30 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ choice, she relates herself and Yusuf to psychology for the sake of better understanding. In a word, intertextuality, whether driven from the Holy Quran, the Bible, Sunnah, literature, history or psychology, attempts to link Wasf al- Bulbl to past experiences in an attempt to understand the present. Bakr manages to "turn time back on itself, to make time repeat itself, reflect itself, do anything but continue its unimpeded advance" (Yildiz 2019: 155, n.). While Bakr is looking back to the past with one eye, she fixes the other eye on the future, for a comprehensive view. The novel has final new accidental intertextuality- telepathy between Salwa Bakr and the Algerian novelist, Ahlam Mosteghanemi's ‫ األسود يليق بك‬Black Becomes You (2012) The title of Mosteghanemi's novel echoes the same words of Dr. Ibrahim to Hajar: "It was rare for him to find a woman who looked beautiful in black" (Bakr 2012:257, Translation ours): ‫من المرات‬ "‫"المعدودة التى يجد فيها امرأة يليق بها ارتداء األسود‬ Intertextuality, thus, is a continuous literary process. On the one hand, the text of Wasf Al-Bulbul has been influenced by even Quranic pre-texts such as the Bible as well as post-Quranic ones, including the Sunna and, at large, world literature and psychology. Still, on the other hand, it bears the seeds of future intertextuality with other texts. To conclude, as far as the literary work under research is concerned, "Intertextuality” has proved to be “a linguistic network connecting the existing text with other preexisting or future, potential texts. It guides reading" (Riffaterre 1994:786). 3-Conclusion Wasf Al-Bulbul is a new reading of Zulaykhah- Yusuf story from Salwa Bakr's feminist point of view. Bakr's common literary agenda is her dual vision of women's rights on the one hand and her search for beauty on the other hand. All over her work, Bakr 31 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( defends women's rights and asks for equality in an unjust society. This search is always accompanied by her search for beauty in all its forms- be it the beauty of nature or the beauty of the people themselves. In this regard, Wasf Al-Bulbul falls into the same category. The researchers take a seat at the table of this new reading, and in turn, re-read the novel from an intertextual point of view. In this sense, the reader is a co-producer of the text, because "the reader's experience of some kind of practice or theory unknown to the author may lead to a fresh interpretation" (Still Judith and Worton1990: 2). The notion the researchers target is the novelty in both theme and technique. As a theme, Bakr has modeled her novel on the story of Zulaykhah-Yusuf story mentioned centuries ago in both the Bible and the Holy Quran. The writer's main concern is to draw attention to the hidden side of the story— that the love story was never onesided, but mutual. Bakr takes the role of Zulaykhah's lawyer and defends her and her right of marrying the man whom she loves, regardless of age, social status, nationality and other cocoons. Bakr's modern heroine – Hajar, does what her predecessors fail to do. Thus, Hajar is intentionally modeled by the author to be an example of the other women who have been suffering since the Old Testament. As a modern heroine, Hajar adopts a new ground of marriage besides the traditional one of social and financial status- the right to marry a handsome attractive man. Bakr is always pleased to create such a shocking effect for her readers. As Hulya Yildiz describes Bakr's technique, "just by writing the kind of fiction she does, she crosses boundaries, trespasses expectations of a 'woman writer'"(2019:150). Felt that such a topic would seem a little bit odd or strange for the Arabic reader, who used to think that men are mainly wanted for their social and financial positions while women are desired mainly for their beauty; Bakr has to depend on various intertexts for the sake of her advocacy; hence, intertextuality. History is a quite useful yardstick or tool to clarify intertextuality. Salwa Bakr, by and large, always depicts historical figures, events and characters from the past to comment on them expressing her own points of view. Her famous novel, Peshmury is 32 Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ also a new reading of the Peshmurian Copts, where she quotes the Holy Quran and the Bible to remind the readers with the "historically unsaid" (Zakaria, para.6). Significantly, Krestiva declares, "Intertextuality is mostly a way of making history go down in us, we, two texts, two destinies, two psyches" (2003:8). Successfully, Salwa Bakr has depicted Zulaykha as a character from the past, because, to quote Riffaterre's words in "The Intertextual Unconscious", "imperviousness to time makes her a text of today whose explanatory intertext is yesterday"(1987:377). Yesterday is always present in Hajar's consciousness through her memories as a child, memories that linger deeply in the text, linking it to the present. Zulaykhah- Yusuf story never leaves the heroine's nor the author's mind. Intertextuality, thus, immortalizes the literary text, as Riffaterre states in "Fear of Theory", " The literary text can disappear physically, but it cannot be modified, altered, tampered with, or read incompletely, without becoming another text "(2003:187).Another text, a new text, means a new further reading of the same text. The researchers attempt, as far as the scope and scale of this paper allows, to read Wasf Al-Bulbul from a feminist point of view, applying an intertextual approach by both providing and translating diverse intertexts from the Holy Quran, Sunnah, The Bible, World literature, psychology and history. Yet, Wasf al- Bulbul, like any other literary text, is timeless. It is always open for any future reading. Each reading of the text creates a new generative intertext. Bibliography Alfaro, María Jesús Martinez (1996). 'Intertextuality: Origin and development of the concept. Atlantis, 18, (1/2):268-285. Ali, Abdullah Yousuf (1934). The Glorious Qur’an. Edited by F. Amira Matraji, Beirut: Dar El-Fikr. Arberry, Arthur J. (1982). The Koran Interpreted. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bakr, Salwa (2012). Selections of Salwa Bakr's Work. General Egyptian Book Organization. 33 )‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة‬ )ISSN : 2536 - 9555( EL-Enany, Rasheed. (2006).'The madness of non-conformity: Woman versus society in the fiction of Salwa Bakr". Journal of Arabic Literature 37(3): 376-415 Jacobmeyer, Hannah. (1998) 'Graham Swift, Ever After: a Study in Intertextuality'. EESE, 8 (98):pp.88-98. Kristeva, Julia. (2003).'Nous deux" or, a (Hi) story of intertextuality'. The Romantic Review, 93 (1-2): pp.7-13. Riffaterre, Michael (1983). 'Hermeneutic models'. Poetics Today, 4(1):7-16 … (1984). 'Intertextual representation: On mimesis as interpretive discourse'. Critical Inquiry, 11(1): 141-162. … (1987). 'The intertextual unconscious'. Critical Inquiry, 13(2): 371-385. … (1990). 'Compulsory reader response: the intertextual drive'. In Michael Worton and Judith Still (eds.), Intertextuality. Theories and Practices, .56-78. Manchester University Press. … (1994). 'Intertextuality vs. hypertextuality'. New Literary History. 25(4):779-788. … (2003).'Fear of theory'. The Romantic Review, 93(1-2): 185-199 Salwa Bakr Asks for an Elegant Egyptian President. ALAhram.News.gate.ahram.org.eg.22-4-2011 Still, Judith and Michael Worton (1990).'Introduction'. In Michael Worton and Judith Still (eds), Intertextuality. Theories and Practices, 1-45. Manchester University Press. Yildiz, Hulya (2019).'Freedom in confinement: Women's prison narratives and the politics of possibility'. Critique, 60(2): 143-156 Zakaria, Ahmad (2014). Salwa Bakr Writes about the Slum Women. Al-Araby. https://www.alaraby.co.uk//culture/1/7/2014. Arabic Bibliography ‫المراجع العربية‬ 34 ‫‪Quranic Intertextuality in Salwa Bakr's Wasf Al-Bulbul‬‬ ‫‪Dr. Muhammad F. Alghazi & Dr. Ebtesam M. M. El-Shokrofy‬‬ ‫مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث اإلنسانية واالجتماعية والتربوية (مجلة علمية محكمة)‬ ‫بكر‪ ،‬سلوى (‪ .)2012‬مختارات من مؤلفات سلوى بكر‪ .‬الهيئة المصرية العامة للكتاب‬ ‫زكريا‪ ،‬أحمد (‪" .)2014‬سلوى بكر‪ :‬كاتبة النساء العشوائيات"‪ .‬مجلة العربى الجديد‪.‬‬ ‫القاهرة ‪ 16.‬يوليو ‪2014‬‬ ‫"سلوى بكر تطالب برئيس وسيم لمصر"‪ .‬جريدة األهرام‪ .‬بوابة األهرام‪ .‬المقهى‬ ‫الثقافى ‪2011-4-22.‬‬ ‫‪All translations from Arabic are the researchers' (Except for the Quranic).‬‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪All translations of the Holy Quran are quoted from AJ Arberry‘s The Koran‬‬ ‫‪Interpreted. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.‬‬ ‫‪2‬‬ ‫‪35‬‬