Dr. Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021) was a prolific Egyptian writer, a medical doctor, and a notable activist. She spent decades working to end the practice of female genital mutilation, advocating for the rights of women, and fighting for economic equity.  She was an outspoken critic of religious practices, colonialism, and capitalism.

In 1972, Dr. El Saadawi was serving as director of  Egypt’s Department of Public Health when she published her first nonfiction book, Women and Sex (المرأة والجنس). As a result of the book’s publication, she was fired from the Ministry of Health. As her fame grew over the years, so too did criticism of her political views, and in 1981, she was jailed as an enemy of the state by then-president, Anwar Sadat. 

A few years after being released from prison, Dr. El Saadawi published Memoirs from the Women’s Prison (مذكرات في سجن النساء), which recounts stories from her 8 weeks of incarceration.

Scroll down to read an excerpt from the introduction of Memoirs from the Women’s Prison by Nawal El Saadawi. The Arabic excerpt is followed by a vocabulary list and English translation. The full book in English and in Arabic may be available at your local library. Currently, it's difficult to find the Arabic version in U.S bookstores, though digital copies can be found online. The English version is available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book through the links at the bottom of the page.

مقدمة

كتبت هذه المذكرات بعد أن خرجت من السجن منذ ثماني سنوات. هل مضت ثماني سنوات؟ كأنما كنت في الزنزانة بالأمس! و هل أنا اليوم خارج السجن؟ لماذا إذن هذا الشعور بالاختناق والانحباس؟ كانت القضبان من حديد لكنها اليوم من مادة أخرى غير مرئية. تطوَّرت التكنولوجيا ولم تمد الأنظمة الحاكمة في حاجة إلى سجون وقلاع. نحن على أبواب القرن الواحد والعشرين وشعارات الديمقراطية مرفوعة في الغرب والشرق والشمال والجنوب. إنها موضة العصر. أمل الشعوب المقهورة وفزع الدكتاتوريّات الموروثة منذ العبودية. تناقض جذريّ عميق بين الحورية الحقيقية ونظام السلطة الهرمي. يقف فوق قمَّة الهرم فرد واحد, صورته في كل مكان. في السماء والأرض. صوته الوحيد المسموع. رأيه الوحيد الصائب. من حوله بطانة من الأعوان. مجموعة من رجال. وجوههم تتشابه في كل عصر. مشيتهم متعرّجة. ظهورهم محنّية. عيونهم لها نظرة غير مستقيمة. يزوغون عند المواجهة. ينتظرون الأوامر والتوجيهات. يملكون السياسة والصحافة والمجلاّت والأدب والفن والراديو والتلفزيون. يملكون النقد والمعارضة في حدود ما هو مسموح. يملكون الجوائز والأوسمة والباب المفتوح إلى التاريخ والموسوعات القومية والبطولات الوطنية وبدلات التمثيل السخية وهدايا الملوك والرؤساء في الشرق والغرب والأقطار الشقيقة

بعد أن خرجت من السجن كان أمامي طريقان. طريق الأمن والرخاء والحصول على الجائزة ولقب الكاتبة الكبيرة. أو الطريق الآخر الصعب الني قادني إلى السجن من قبل

Introduction

I wrote these notes after I left prison eight years ago. Where did those eight years go? It’s as if I was in jail yesterday! And am I today really out of prison? What then are these feelings of suffocation and confinement? The bars were of iron but today they’re of an invisible substance. Technology has evolved so the ruling parties do not need prisons and castles. We are at the door of the twenty-first century and democratic slogans are coming from the West and the East and the North and the South. It’s the current trend. The hope of the oppressed people and the panic of dictatorships passed down the family line since slavery. There is a deep and radical contradiction between true freedom and hierarchical authority. Standing at the top of the pyramid is one individual, his picture is everywhere. In the sky, on the ground. Only his voice is heard. Only his opinion matters. An entourage of agents surrounds him. A group of men. Their faces look the same. Their gait is tortuous. Their backs are bent. Their eyes look shifty. They deflect when confronted. They await commands and instructions. They own politics and journalism and magazines and literature and art and radio and television. They own criticism and opposition, within permissible parameters. They have awards and honors and an open door to the era, national encyclopedias and national championships, generous theater funds and gifts from kings and presidents in the East and the West and allied countries.

After I left prison, there were two paths in front of me. The path to safety and prosperity, to win the award and be recognized as a great author. Or the other, harder path, the one that had led me to prison before.

English translation edited by Taraf Abu Hamdan

Vocabulary / مفردات

السجن

Prison/jail

الزنزانة

Prison/jail

الاختناق

Suffocation

الانحباس

Confinement

القضبان

Bars

موضة العصر

Current trend or what’s currently fashionable

فزع

Panic

الدكتاتوريّات الموروثة

Inherited dictatorships

الهرم

Pyramid

يزوغون (يزغ)

They deflect, duck, or evade

أمر / الأوامر

Command/s

لقب

Title