By: Michel Hanna
Translated by: Elmaz Fida
The Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakim was known as the “enemy of women” and refused to marry. Once, when he tried to convince himself to marry his neighbor, he set fifteen difficult conditions for her to accept and marry. His neighbor had to declare that she accepted all the conditions before they could get married.
Tofik himself sincerely hoped and wished that the neighbor would refuse even one of the conditions, as this would declare that marriage was impossible and would save him from that emotional dead end. He openly stated his conditions, which were:
- No one should know that we are married, because I want this marriage to remain a secret, known only to your family.
- This marriage should not be mentioned in the newspapers, neither openly nor by implication.
- No guests will be welcomed at home.
- We won't go for walks or trips together.
- The household expenses will be only twenty pounds a month, without adding a penny.
- I will be responsible for the problems of the house and the servants.
- You (the wife) will only be responsible for taking care of the children.
- You will treat me like a small child, because an artist needs care and devotion.
- Our home needs to be quiet and free of noise, so that I can focus on my writing.
- Each of us will sleep in our own room, without interfering in my affairs at all.
But the unexpected happened. The beautiful neighbor accepted all the conditions set, showing submission and willingness to marry the great writer, who was twenty years older than her.
Over time, she miraculously managed to circumvent all these strange conditions set by the writer before marriage. The strangest thing is that Tofik himself did not say a word, but voluntarily gave up the conditions he had set himself.
A month after the wedding, Tofik wrote an article in the newspaper Today's news, in which he said, among other things: "Love ... only love can make your life better."
