The Beginning and the End (novel)

The Beginning and the End (Arabic: بداية ونهاية) is a novel by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, first published in 1949. The novel is set in the suburbs of Cairo in the late 1930s and deals with the trials and tribulations of a middle-class family who are struggling to keep out of poverty after the death of the father, the sole breadwinner. The novel is marked by very bold characterization for the time period and setting, and the story moves at a prolific pace as it tries to look at the world from each character's viewpoint.

Mahfouz has been credited with modernizing Arabic literature with his prolific writing style and his themes on existentialism. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988.