Echoes of an Autobiography

          In Naguib Mahfouz's Echoes of an Autobiography, Mahfouz has compiled numerous short stories and tales that shine light into his long-lived life.  Through his provision of these small accounts from different periods of his life with little order or structure, it can be understood that each and every one of these sections has its own lesson to give.  Upon looking back at these particular instances in his life, Mahfouz has culminated the messages that he has leaned over his years of experience that he deems crucial to be heard and taken to heart by his audience.
          Personally, I appreciate the second half of Mahfouz's piece in particular.  In these passages, Mahfouz makes continuous references to Sheikh Abd-Rabbih al-Ta'ih.  The Sheikh is obviously a man who Mahfouz holds in high regard and he has carefully placed the lessons that he learned from him within his book.  This is one way that we are able to see the Echoes being played out throughout the book.  The lessons that the Sheikh has taught Mahfouz resound through his life and have affected him in such a way that Mahfouz considered them such a substantial part of his existence that they deserve a place in his memoirs.  
          The lesson from the Sheikh that resounded in me was the passage where he draws the distinction between mercy and justice.  In the passage 'The End of the Ordeal', Mahfouz asks the Sheikh "How will the ordeal we are suffering end?" to which the Sheikh replies "If we come out safe, that is mercy; and if we come out doomed, that is justice" (91).  Taking into consideration my own Christian background, while understanding that the Muslim faith contains many of the same basic principles concerning God's providence and man's ability to be saved, I was left to consider what this section actually says.  It would seem that the Sheikh is saying that mankind is deserving of its suffering here on earth.  It is just that we all come to a final period of death.  It is only through the good grace of some higher being that we could ever hope to prosper unscathed.  That would be a true example of mercy from some one/thing who provides and cares for its creation.