If it were not for the thorny and difficult paths of politics, the attractiveness of journalism, and the love of its troubles, Muhammad Hassanein Heikal would have become the most famous Arab writer since the middle of the twentieth century until his passing in February 2016, or “the Professor,” as his fans and friends always used to call him, a well-known poet, a great writer, a brilliant art critic, or a storyteller. One of the greatest storytellers of his time.
He once said about himself that he was an “oppressed poet,” and therefore his closest friends were Kamel El-Shenawy and Mahmoud Darwish, and he memorized more than 10,000 lines of ancient and modern poetry.
In art, the first artist he knew was Najib Al-Rihani and Mimi Shakib, before whom he showed shyness that made his cheeks red. When he wrote about one of Al-Rihani’s plays, it was a surprise that the great artist advised him to stay away from art. So why was this strange advice?
His friendship linked him with Omar Sharif, Faten Hamama, Youssef Shaheen, Adel Imam, and Ahmed Zaki, and one day he surprised “The Leader” with a phone call: “Hello, Professor Adel… I am Muhammad Hassanein Heikal.” What was Adel Imam’s response, and how did the friendship between them begin?
Umm Kulthum was one of his closest and dearest friends, and he loved her more than the musician Muhammad Abdel Wahhab. He even allowed her to have a long conversation with him, in a rare precedent that had not been repeated with another artist, journalist and political writer of the value of Heikal.
His relationship with the brown nightingale, Abdel Halim Hafez, reached its peak with the rise of Halim’s star, and he does not forget the day of the gift that the nightingale gave to the leader Abdel Nasser, and he advised him not to repeat it again so as not to anger Nasser. However, he described his voice as “a tone of tenderness in the midst of loud noise.”
Many things and secrets that many do not know about the late great writer Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, away from politics. Egyptian journalist Adel Al-Sanhouri searched for them in a new book that he is preparing to release on the occasion of the Cairo International Book Fair in its new session next January 24, under the title “Heikal… The Face.” “The other.”
The author says in his introduction about Heikal: “An exceptional journalist, who summed up the entire profession of Her Majesty in his person and name, and everyone who seeks to work in the profession strives to become like Heikal, or imitate him in his graceful, enjoyable, inclusive, and unobtrusive style.”
It raises many questions that have been on the minds of many about the other side of Muhammad Hassanein Heikal, the man who contributed to the formulation of politics and the press industry for 70 years.. Who is he? Where was he raised? To which social class does he belong? What did he study? What are his favorite foods and drinks? Where did he live? What was he reading? How did he write? What about the details of his daily life? Did he like movies and listen to singing? Who are his friends? Were they only politicians and major writers, or did he have friends outside this milieu? What is the scope of love and sadness in his life?
