1 _______________________________________________________ DOI: https://doi.org/10.33258/birci.v3i1.747 The Cairo Trilogy: An Existential Reading in Three Generations of this Novel Ali Dakhil Naem 1 , Lajiman Bin Janoory 2 1 Ministry of Education-Iraq, Ph. D. Student in Literature, Faculty of Languages and Communication, University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia 2 Dr, Faculty of Languages and Communication, University Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tg. Malim Perak, Malaysia alidakhil2016@gmail.com I. Introduction Mahfouz portrays variety combinations of fictional contemporary Egyptian characters who express their inner struggles in response to the impact of colonization, war, and economic indigence in a developing Egypt. So, Mahfouz depicts characters and situations that reflect both the external forces and internal conflicts experienced in contemporary life. His images of situations mirror how Egyptians have discussed religious and political ideological questions in terms of a struggle against alien powers and how they look for meaning behind the dominance of colonialism in all the facets of their lives. In other words, Mahfouz’s portrayal of Egyptians and Islam exemplifies the multi -dimensional construction of Muslim identity today. For Mahfouz, these dimensions consist of social justice, human nature, Western influences, political upheaval, and religious extremism. This diversity facilitates acceptance and openness to others as suggested by Mahfouz in his writings: Perhaps it is this atmosphere, which my generation imbibed, that makes it particularly painful for us to witness the growth of religious fanaticism. For us it is an alien phenomenon, andany harm inflicted on our Coptic brothers is inflicted on us all. (Mahfouz,2001: p.108) The masterpiece in a realistic level has brought the novelist universal recognition and the Nobel Prize; the Trilogy is published between 1956 and 1957, in separate books getting their titles from the name of a street in Old Cairo a birthplace of some of the characters: Bain al-Qasrain, Qasr al-Shawq, and al-Sukkariyya. With the rise of the Existentialism during the first half of the twentieth century the trilogy has traced the fortunes of a middle-class Egyptian family for three different generations firstly during the revolution in 1919 and Abstract The researcher in this paper elaborates the writings of Naguib Mahfouz from an existential perspective in Cairo Trilogy. Mahfouz concludes that western scholars and politicians conceal the realities of daily life in Egypt, which Mahfouz reveals. In Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, one can find an openness and acceptance in Egyptian society for other faiths and cultures. The researcher will illustrate how there is an important acceptance of internal existential and religious struggles amongst individuals in the society during this novel. The researcher focuses on the character and the inner psychological conflicts in these characters. It seems that this is an important aspect of Egyptian identity. The idea that Egyptians or Muslims are struggling mainly with the West is contradictory to Mahfouz’s characterizations. He asserts that Egyptians have their own internal struggles because of the diversity of their ideologies. Keywords existential; Egyptian society; identity