The second edition of the book Tales of Marriage of Geniuses and Celebrities has been released by the Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House for Mustafa Nasr. The book narrates the intricate details of famous marriages, narrating the story in a way that makes you feel a part of it. The author does not merely recount events as historical facts, but rather, as living stories that move like a cinematic film. The author writes with the spirit of a screenplay. The book brings together various subjects; you read about separate yet interconnected topics, one theme and multiple marriages, one soul and scattered stories.

Arab Celebrity Marriages

The author takes us through famous Arab marriages: Dik Al Jin, Shajarat Al Dur, Muhammad Ali, the marriage of the desert researcher Malak Hifni Nassef to a tribal chief in Fayoum, the marriage of Fatima Roushdy to Aziz Eid, the pioneer of modern theater in Egypt, and the marriage of Najib Al Rihani to Badia Masabni. The author also reminds us of the marriage of Qatr Al Nada, the daughter of Khumarawayh, the ruler of Egypt, to Al Mu'tadid – the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad – a marriage that depleted Egypt's treasury and ended the Tulunid state.

Clash of Civilizations… Class Struggle

Ali Fahmi, the son of a very wealthy contractor, married a French woman who had come to visit Egypt for treatment. He mistreated her, and she killed him in London. The English courts acquitted her. European newspapers commented on the incident, considering it a clash between an advanced civilization represented by the wife and a backward civilization represented by Ali Fahmi. Egyptian newspapers defended Egyptian civilization. Mohamed Bayoumi, the pioneer of Egyptian cinema, made a documentary film about the arrival of Ali Fahmi's body. After his death, his sister Aisha inherited a great fortune and married Youssef Wahbi and then, for some time, Mahmoud Shokoko.

The class struggle is evident in the marriage of Sheikh Ali Youssef to Safiya, the daughter of Sheikh Al Sadat, the owner and editor-in-chief of Al Mu'ayyad newspaper. This marriage humiliated Ali Youssef, and the Sharia judge Abu Khatwa separated the couple because the husband's wealth at the time of marriage could not erase the disgrace of his past poverty. Moreover, he worked as a "journalist," which was considered a religiously forbidden profession, as it exposed people's faults, and religion commanded not to spy on others.

To further humiliate Sheikh Ali Youssef, Safiya's father asked him to come and ask for her hand in marriage again. He accepted the humiliation and agreed to the conditions, as he was infatuated with the whiteness of her skin and the fullness of her body. He married her and discovered that he had exhausted himself for no benefit. She made his life miserable to the point that he would sleep at the newspaper's headquarters. After his death, she married one of the sons of the Akasha troupe. "Dik Al Jin and the Orchestrated Betrayal"

Dik Al Jin loves Ward, and she loves him too, and all they want is to share a home together. However, he does not have the money. Ward suggested that he borrow from Abu Al Tayeb. So, to please Ward, Dik Al Jin did. Ward did not tell him that Abu Al Tayeb was one of the suitors who wanted to marry her and that he had been pressuring her father to agree. However, her father preferred Dik Al Jin because he knew his daughter loved him. Abu Al Tayeb suffered from his love for Ward, and when Dik Al Jin went to Abu Al Tayeb and asked him for a loan to marry Ward, without knowing Abu Al Tayeb's true feelings, and in the name of friendship, Abu Al Tayeb gave him the money, hoping that the marriage would not take place.

Dik Al Jin got married and soon after traveled to Hama to get some money to pay off his debts. At the same time, Abu Al Tayeb's heart was burning with love, so his friend Amer wanted to do him a favor and spread a rumor that Ward loved Amer. When Dik Al Jin returned, he overheard two men talking about it: "Are you sure that Ward loved Amer? Everyone in Homs is talking about it. They say she didn't keep her promise to her poet husband and waited for his departure to be alone with Amer. I assure you that she was the one who urged him to travel." Dik Al Jin grabbed one of the men and shouted at him, "What are you saying?" The other man pushed him away, "What's the matter with you? We're talking about something that happened far from here." Dik Al Jin replied, "I know the Ward you're talking about." The two men scoffed and laughed, "How could you? She lives in Homs." The two men hurried away, and he watched them in astonishment and confusion. (page 15)

Dik Al Jin went back to Ward, who approached him, concerned about what had happened to him in Hama. He had left happy, full of hope and desire for life. Had thieves stolen the money he was carrying on his way back to Homs? He pushed her away, shouting:

"You are my worry and my torment. I traveled to make you happy, and I returned for you. Where are your belongings? Who is this Amer they are talking about? I don't know anyone named Amer." As they were talking, there was a knock on the door. She hurried to open it, and the man at the door yelled, "Open up, Ward, it's me, Amer. Hurry up and open the door before people see me." Ward looked at the door and then at her husband, astonished. Dik Al Jin yelled, "Open it for him, what are you waiting for? Believe me, I don't know him." (page 17)

But Dik Al Jin heard only the sound of his raging anger, so he attacked her and strangled her with his bare hands, screaming in shock and pain. It was his cousin, Abu Al Tayeb, who had deceived him into thinking she was cheating on him, so he killed her. This story resembles Shakespeare's tragedy of Othello. Perhaps Shakespeare heard the story from European Christians and Jews who went to the Holy Land for pilgrimage. The story of Dik Al Jin was famous in Homs and neighboring cities, and many Crusaders settled in the Levant. The story of Dik Al Jin reached their ears, and they told it in their homeland when they returned.

Marjana Seeks Revenge

The slave girl who captivated the heart and mind of her master, Najm al-Din Ayyub, Shajarat al-Durr, left all her lovers and wives for her. There was another slave girl named Marjana who was infatuated with the love of Najm al-Din Ayyub, waiting for his return from his trip to marry her. However, he returned with a wife who had been his slave named Shajarat al-Durr. Driven by jealousy, Marjana killed the only son of Shajarat al-Durr and Najm al-Din Ayyub. Her hatred for Shajarat al-Durr continued to grow even after the death of Najm al-Din Ayyub and her marriage to Izz al-Din Aybak. Marjana incited "Umm Ali," Aybak's first wife, to kill Shajarat al-Durr and even participated in beating her to death with clogs.

Mohammed Ali: A Deprived Lover

Mohammed Ali, the poor orphan who wore tattered clothes and collected his meager earnings relying on his strong body and rare courage, as well as not having received any education, was noticed by Amina, the cousin of the governor of Qawla, who was married to a man who did not treat her well. Her father warned her of the consequences of this marriage to no avail. She returned with her young son Ibrahim, insisting on seeking a divorce from her husband. Her heart became attached to Mohammed Ali, and she left her husband for him. Othman, his friend, told him that Amina, his cousin, was interested in him (Mohammed Ali laughed; because he did not understand what Othman meant, Othman said - she wants you as a husband instead of that man who mistreats her, I won't hide it from you, my father is comfortable with this solution) p. 49

Mohammed Ali felt confused, how should he respond to such an offer? A beautiful woman with abundant wealth, status, and pedigree was being offered to him, but who was offering her?! Her uncle, the governor of Qawla, and his son. Mohammed Ali confessed to Othman that his heart was occupied with the love of a girl named Jawhara, the daughter of a sheikh from Brousta. The story continues, and we learn that Khusraw fell in love with Jawhara when he saw her and wanted to take her for himself. Jawhara threw herself off a cliff so as not to be one of Khusraw's women, as she loved Mohammed Ali. Mohammed Ali fainted when Khusraw's men beat him, and when he learned that Jawhara had died, he had no choice but to marry Amina, along with her son Ibrahim. They moved to Egypt, where he became the governor, but this did not prevent him from marrying another woman!