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Nabil Farouk
Nabil Farouk
Nabil Farouk
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Nabil Farouk Ramadan Bayoumi Ramadan (Arabic: نبيل فاروق رمضان بيومي رمضان) (9 February 1956 – 9 December 2020[1]) was an Egyptian novelist. best known for his books in the Rewayāt Masreyya Lel Gēb (Egyptian Pocket Novels) series.[2]

Key Information

He was born in the Egyptian city of Tanta, and first showed an interest in reading at a very young age. With the encouragement of his parents, he made his first attempts at writing at the age of about thirteen, and in high school joined journalism, photography, and theatre workgroups.

He received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Tanta in 1980. Just a year before his graduation, he received an award from the Cultural Centre of Tanta for his novel The Prophecy, which was later published as the first book of his Cocktail 2000 series.

He started writing Rewayat by following an advertisement in the World of Books magazine, saying that the Modern Arab Association was seeking science fiction novelists. He submitted his novel Ray of Death, and it was published a year later as the first book in Malaf Al Mostakbal (The Future File) series. Soon afterwards, he started on his other main series of novels, Ragol Al Mostaheel (The Man of the Impossible), which is said to be based on the actual exploits of an Egyptian Central Intelligence agent called A.S. (alias: Adham Sabri).

He was a doctor, but was not practising medicine, being devoted full-time to his writing. Other than his series, he wrote articles for two newspapers and three magazines, and started working on scripts for television series after finishing two films scripts, with a third one in progress. A new novel of (The Man of the Impossible) (Ragol Al Mostaheel) will be released titled ن-٣, which in arabic symbolizes the third best hero in the general intelligence, through which ن-٣ will reveal, with his unique skills and exceptional abilities, the answers to many questions related to the previous issues.

Series

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  • Ragol Al Mostaheel (The Man of the Impossible).
  • Malaf Al Mostakbal (The Future Archive).
  • Cocktail 2000.
  • Fares Al Andalus (The Knight of Andalusia).
  • Harb Al jwasees (The War Of The Spies).
  • Zohoor (Flowers)
  • Saif Al Adala (The sword of justice)
  • Moghamarat ʽayn × 2 (Adventures ×2)

See also

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References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Nabil Farouk

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Nabil Farouk is an Egyptian novelist known for his prolific output in spy fiction, science fiction, action, and mystery genres, with over 500 published novels that sold millions of copies across the Arab world. He gained widespread popularity through long-running pocket novel series such as Ragol Al-Mostaheel (The Impossible Man), centered on undercover agent Adham Sabry, and Malaf Al-Mostakbal (Future Files), a science fiction series that helped popularize the genre among young readers alongside contemporaries like Ahmed Khaled Tawfik. Born in February 1956 in Tanta, Egypt, Farouk graduated from Tanta University's School of Medicine in 1980 and initially practiced as a physician before transitioning to full-time writing and journalism, contributing to publications such as El Akhbar and El Dostour. His works, often issued as affordable pocket novels beginning in the mid-1980s under cultural initiatives, blended espionage, futuristic themes, and adventure to captivate Egyptian and Arab teenagers during the 1990s and 2000s, shaping their imaginations and cultural awareness. Beyond novels, he scripted television series including Agent 1001 and the film The Hostage. Farouk's innovative approach to genre fiction established him as a foundational figure in modern Arabic popular literature, with his stories remaining influential long after their initial publication. He died on December 9, 2020, from a heart attack at the age of 64.

Early Life and Education

Birth and Background

Nabil Farouk Ramadan Bayoumi Ramadan was born on February 9, 1956, in Tanta, Egypt. He grew up in a middle-class family in the city. From a young age, Farouk showed a strong interest in reading, which was encouraged by his father and had a significant impact on his development. His daughter Reham Farouk announced his death in 2020.

Medical Education

Nabil Farouk completed his medical education at the Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1980. This degree qualified him as a physician and conferred the professional title of Doctor, by which he became widely known as Dr. Nabil Farouk. Sources consistently reference his medical training at Tanta University as the foundation for this title, though details on post-graduation medical practice remain limited in available records.

Literary Career

Entry into Writing and Rise to Fame

Nabil Farouk transitioned from his medical career to writing in 1984, when he began authoring action-oriented pocket novels for young readers as part of the Rewayat Masreya Lel Gob (Egyptian Pocket Novels) project initiated by the Modern Arab Association. This marked his formal entry into literature, with his works published in affordable pocket format to reach a broad youth audience in Egypt. His novels rapidly gained traction, achieving massive popularity during the 1990s particularly among teenagers and young readers who embraced the accessible adventure stories. Farouk's contributions helped establish detective and spy narratives as mainstream genres in Arabic youth literature, often in collaboration with contemporaries like Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, who similarly advanced science fiction for the same demographic. In addition to his pocket novels, Farouk contributed articles to prominent Egyptian newspapers and magazines, including El Akhbar, Sobian Wi Banat, and El Dostour, further extending his influence across different media platforms.

Prolific Output and Publishing Format

Nabil Farouk was one of the most prolific authors in the Arab world, having published more than 500 novels primarily in the genres of detective fiction and science fiction. These works, written in Arabic, achieved widespread circulation with millions of copies sold across the Arab world since the mid-1980s. He specialized in the pocket novel format, known as Egyptian pocket novels (روايات جيب مصرية), which featured small, affordable paperback editions designed for accessibility and mass appeal. These compact books targeted young readers and students, who often read them discreetly during school classes, contributing to their popularity among adolescents. Farouk's pocket novels and series gained their greatest influence during the 1990s and early 2000s, when they became a cultural staple for Egyptian and broader Arab youth, shaping reading habits and imaginative worlds for entire generations.

Key Series and Works

Ragol Al-Mostaheel

Ragol Al-Mostaheel (The Man of the Impossible) is Nabil Farouk's most iconic series, a long-running collection of spy fiction novels featuring action and adventure elements centered on espionage and intelligence operations. The series began in 1984 with the first installment titled الاختفاء الغامض (The Mysterious Disappearance) and continued until 2009, ultimately comprising 160 main numbered volumes published as part of the Egyptian pocket novel format. It achieved widespread popularity across the Arab world, particularly resonating with young readers and establishing itself as a cornerstone of Arabic pulp spy literature. The central protagonist is Adham Sabry, an elite Egyptian intelligence officer codenamed N-1 (representing a rare and unparalleled agent) and popularly known as Ragol Al-Mostaheel. Described as perpetually 35 years old, Sabry is portrayed as a patriotic master operative skilled in all forms of combat including martial arts, proficient with every class of weapon, expert in disguise and voice mimicry, fluent in multiple languages, and capable of piloting planes, driving vehicles, and operating submarines. The narratives follow his undercover missions confronting foreign intelligence threats, criminal organizations, and dangers to Egypt, often involving global settings, intricate plots, and high-stakes action. Adham Sabry emerged as a cultural icon in Egypt, embodying idealized traits of bravery, skill, and national loyalty that captivated generations of readers.

Malaf Al-Mostakbal and Other Series

Nabil Farouk developed the science fiction series Malaf Al-Mostakbal (The Future File), recognized as one of his prominent contributions to the genre alongside his detective works. The series launched with the novel Ray of Death, which Farouk submitted in response to a magazine advertisement seeking science fiction writers and which was published as the first installment after a year. Malaf Al-Mostakbal presents futuristic narratives centered on scientific intelligence and technological challenges, helping to popularize science fiction among Egyptian and Arab youth. Farouk also authored the Cocktail 2000 series, which began with the novel The Prophecy, an early work that won an award from the Cultural Centre of Tanta during his university years before being adapted as the series opener. This series stands out among his diverse output for its espionage themes. One of Farouk's novels, Midnight Sun, appeared in English in 2015 through a self-published translation by Husam Abu Sarris. Across Malaf Al-Mostakbal, Cocktail 2000, and other titles, Farouk advanced both science fiction and detective genres in Arabic literature, influencing generations of readers with accessible pocket novels.

Film and Television Work

Screenwriting Credits

Nabil Farouk's screenwriting career represents a notable extension of his prolific literary work into film and television. His contributions focused on thriller, action, and espionage-oriented projects consistent with his background in Egyptian spy fiction novels. In 2005, Farouk served as the writer for the television series Agent 1001 (Al Ameel 1001). The espionage series, based on a story of an Egyptian spy infiltrating Israel before the 1973 war, was filmed in locations including Taba, Cyprus, and Italy. In 2006, he received a writing credit for the feature film El-Rahinah (The Hostage), co-written with Nader Salah El Din and directed by Sandra Nashaat. The thriller follows a young Egyptian man who travels to Ukraine seeking work and becomes entangled in the kidnapping of an Egyptian scientist. Additionally, in 2015, Farouk wrote the suspense anthology television series Man El Gany? (Who's the Culprit?), where each episode investigates a different crime. These projects constitute his main documented screenwriting credits in film and television. No direct screen adaptations of his novels are credited to him as writer.

Media Appearances

Nabil Farouk made a guest appearance as himself in the Egyptian television series Sahibat Al Saada in 2014, appearing in one episode. This on-screen role provided an opportunity for the novelist to connect directly with viewers, capitalizing on the fame from his literary output. His participation reflected his status as a cultural figure in Egypt, though such media appearances remained infrequent throughout his career.

Death

Circumstances of Passing

Nabil Farouk died on December 9, 2020, at the age of 64 after suffering a heart attack. His daughter, Reham Farouk, announced his death on Facebook on the same day. Funeral prayers were held at Talaat Mustafa Mosque in Rehab City on December 10, 2020. He was subsequently buried in the family cemetery in Ismailia.

Legacy

Cultural and Literary Influence

Nabil Farouk, together with Ahmed Khaled Tawfik, formed a central part of the third wave of Egyptian science fiction writers, substantially expanding the genre's reach to the vast majority of Arab and Egyptian youth and embedding science fiction culture into the fabric of Arab-Egyptian societies. Their pocketbook series helped popularize speculative fiction and related genres among young readers during the 1990s and 2000s, fostering widespread engagement with imaginative storytelling in accessible formats. Farouk pioneered spy fiction in Arabic literature, most notably through his long-running series Ragol Al-Mostaheel (The Man of the Impossible), whose protagonist Adham Sabry emerged as an enduring cultural icon in Egypt since the 1990s. His works profoundly shaped the imagination of Egyptian readers during the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly among a generation that was aged 20 to 35 around the time of his death in 2020, many of whom encountered his stories as young students. These pocket novels were frequently read discreetly in school during unengaging classes, underscoring their captivating appeal and role in sparking interest in reading beyond formal curricula. Through such influence, Farouk contributed significantly to the cultural landscape of youth literature in Egypt and the Arab world.

References

  1. https://arablit.org/2020/12/09/egyptian-sci-fi-novelist-nabil-farouk-dies-at-64/
  2. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1775381/art-culture
  3. https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentP/18/396557/Books/Egyptian-spy-fiction-master-Nabil-Farouk-dies-at-.aspx
  4. https://elcinema.com/en/person/1103568/
  5. https://www.ysk-book.com/en/author/Nabil-Farouk-book
  6. https://tanta.edu.eg/en/Celebrities.aspx
  7. https://arabic.cnn.com/entertainment/article/2020/12/09/egyptwriter-nabil-farouk-the-icon-of-police-literature-passed-away
  8. https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1775381/art-culture
  9. https://www.rewayatmasreya.com/writers/%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%82/
  10. https://www.youm7.com/story/2025/2/9/%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%82-%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%89-%D8%B8%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%84/6876115
  11. https://asfar.io/nabil-farouk-encyclopedia-all-works/
  12. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/95160/Iconic-Nabil-Farouk-The-grief-of-losing-the-second-leaf
  13. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2620951/
  14. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4975982/
  15. https://elcinema.com/en/work/1011574/
  16. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/2005-06-16/ty-article/out-of-character-for-egyptian-tv/0000017f-e96e-da9b-a1ff-ed6f04820000
  17. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960084/fullcredits/
  18. https://elcinema.com/en/work/1011588/
  19. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960084/
  20. https://elcinema.com/en/work/2033319/
  21. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3963904/fullcredits/
  22. https://elcinema.com/person/1103568/
  23. https://arablit.org/2018/03/28/the-director-of-the-egyptian-society-for-science-fiction-on-arabic-sfs-past-present-and-future/
  24. https://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsPrint/397778.aspx
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