Zaynab
Muhammad Husayn Haykal
 The novel is a seminal point in Egyptian literature since it is the first to feature a fully described, contemporary Egyptian setting and the first to feature dialogue in the Egyptian vernacular. Haykal had spent considerable time in France where he was studying as a lawyer, and it was actually at this point that he wrote Zaynab in 1911. Notably, the author chose the pseudonym Masri Fallah ("An Egyptian Rustic"), which perhaps underlines the lack of prestige attached to the genre at the time of his writing. Originally intended to be a short story, he found that his work had more mileage than he had first appreciated, and continued to tell the story of a young peasant girl named Zaynab, and of the three men who at one time or another strive for her affections.