Yahya Hakki (1905–92) started life as a lawyer and then served in different parts of the world as a diplomat. After resigning from the diplomatic service he devoted himself wholly to writing and became one of that small group of exceptionally talented men who, some half a century ago, laid the foundations for the literary renaissance in Egypt. DENYS JOHNSON-DAVIES is the pioneer translator of modern Arabic literature, with more than 25 volumes of translation to his name, and is the author of Memories in Translation: A Life between the Lines of Arabic Literature (AUC Press, 2005). He lives in Cairo and Marrakesh.