Egyptian writer Bahaa Taher has died at 87, following a lengthy illness.
Over his career, Taher published 17 books, including Sunset Oasis, which won the inaugural International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2008, and several plays. The award, which is funded by the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi, is commonly known as the Arabic Booker.
The Egyptian Writers' Union paid tribute to Taher saying he had “enriched the Arab Library with great literary and novel works”.
Born in Giza, Greater Cairo, in 1935, Taher was the youngest of eight children. Although illiterate, his mother used to inspire him with stories about families and intrigue set in her birthplace, near Luxor in Upper Egypt — which would later feature in some of his most prominent work. Taher was 17 when his father, an Arabic teacher, died.
After graduating from university, Taher began his career as a translator for the government, before helping to launch Radio Cairo’s cultural programme in 1957, producing radio dramas.
Throughout the 1960s he was a member of Egypt’s left-wing, avant-garde literary circles and a regular contributor to the Galerie 68 magazine, which published experimental and political pieces deemed too controversial for mainstream publication.
An early supporter of Gamal Abdel Nasser, who Taher believed developed Egypt into a more self-sufficient, independent and progressive state while president, he was much more critical of Anwar Sadat’s rule.
In an interview with Saudi magazine Majalla, he said: “Back then, Egypt’s Minister of Information followed a very clear rule ‘those who are not with us, are against us’, and apparently I was not considered to be with them.
“The situation was very bad at that time. During Gamal Abdel Nasser, the opposition was sent to prison; during Anwar Sadat we were left to starve and obliged to come back on our knees.”
Having published his first collection in 1972, he was fired from his broadcasting three years later — and banned from writing and publishing in Egypt, over his leftist views and writings. Sadat accused him of being at the centre of a "red cell" at the heart of Egyptian Radio.
Struggling for work, he left Egypt and began working as an English, French and Arabic translator for Unesco in Geneva, continuing to write short stories and novels.
In an earlier interview with The National, he said: "For two years, I wasn't able to write. Partly because I was busy, but also because man is like a plant. He needs his own earth and blossoms in it. If you take him and transfer him to different soil, either the adaptation succeeds — which needs a lot of work — or it doesn't, but in both cases, the plant will be different."
Egypt lifted the ban on Taher's work in 1983, allowing the works he produced in Geneva to trickle through — Al Hob fil Manfa (Love in Exile) — which tackles exile, disillusionment, and the redemptive power of love; and Qalat Duha (As Doha Said), exploring the hopes and disappointments of the early Nasserist era, among others.
After his return to Egypt in the 1990s, more of Taher’s books have been published and translated into multiple languages. One of his best-known works, Khalti Safiyya wal Dier (My Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery) was published in 1991 and translated into English five years later.
Written at a time of heightened tensions between the Muslims and Copts of Upper Egypt, it presented a harmonious relationship between Muslim and Coptic characters, angering some in both communities. However, it was praised for its accurate depiction of Upper Egypt, which Taher had only sporadically visited.
In 2000, the novel was awarded the Italian Guiseppe Acerbi prize — two years after Taher received Egypt’s highest literary award, the State Award of Merit in Literature. Taher’s sixth novel, Sunset Oasis, published in 2007, is centred on a disgraced Egyptian government official, who is posted to the desert oasis of Siwa by his British superiors Siwa, for his involvement in the failed Urabi revolt of 1882. Spanning several Egyptian epochs, the book won the inaugural Arabic Booker in 2008.
Exploring the dynamics of power, Taher has Alexander the Great state: “I learnt that fear, not wisdom, is the basis of rule. I learnt that one must make the common people live in constant fear of punishment and torment on Earth and in Heaven so that they may know obedience and righteousness.”
In 2009, The National interviewed Taher for the UK launch of Sunset Oasis. At the time, he had two children from a previous marriage and was living with his Greek-Slovenian wife Stefka, who is a Russian interpreter, in Zamalek, an island on the Nile. He called the Arabic Booker prize win "a very welcome surprise".
Four years later, Taher resigned from Egypt's State Council of Culture in protest to the firings and resignations of several leading cultural figures under Mohamed Morsi's rule.
Even in his older years, Taher remained committed to the same principles he always had. "I am still against the same things I was against when I was young: social and political injustice, especially against women or people of different origins or ethnicities. What's different is that the hope I had at one time no longer exists. Hopefully, things will change — but not, I think, very quickly."
Scroll through more images of famous people we've lost in 2022 below
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
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The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The figures behind the event
1) More than 300 in-house cleaning crew
2) 165 staff assigned to sanitise public areas throughout the show
3) 1,000 social distancing stickers
4) 809 hand sanitiser dispensers placed throughout the venue
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
MATCH INFO
Bayern Munich 2 Borussia Monchengladbach 1
Bayern: Zirkzee (26'), Goretzka (86')
Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)
Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)
