A Man of Awesome Power

Plot 

A Man of Awesome Power is about a man, Tayyib al-Mahid, who believes that his mission in this world has ended. He, however, experiences a mixture of minor aches, pains and contentment. He praises his God for the contentment he has given him. The fact that he feels he has accomplished his mission on earth and is enjoying a more than adequate pension implies that he is a retiree. In fact, the narrator specifies that he owns an apartment he was given as a reward for a long service abroad. Among his accomplishments is his daughters' marriage, which gave him the feeling that he had nothing else to do but spend his evenings with his wife entertaining themselves: watching television, reading newspapers, and listening to Quranic preachings on the radio. 

One night while he was sleeping, he saw an apparition of a man of radiant appearance, bathed in light and wrapped in a snow-white robe. The apparition told him that God wanted him to have the power to tell things: "From this moment onward and for as long as God will, you shall have the power to tell something, Be!--and it will be. Do with it what you please." (p.1). 

Tayyib ponders about the dream but soon forgets it, rubbishing it as an ordinary dream. Strangely, the dream recurs the next night and many other nights that follow. When it appears enough times, he is persuaded that it has a hidden message. Still, he chooses to keep it to himself. Not even his wife, Haniya, knows about it. He feels energized, confident, inspired and joyful. He does not see why he should not do what God wants him to do. After all, he is a good man, whose sins, according to Islam, are forgivable ones. In fact, the narrator plainly points out that he is a pious and observant man who loves virtue and carries other people's burdens despite having a modest life. This description paints a picture of a man who is ready to do anything for the good of the the world and those around him. 

Tayyib makes up his mind and tries out the power he receives from the apparition. While his wife busies herself in the kitchen, he decides to change his TV channel without moving to manually change the channel. He mentally demands that the channel switches from the first channel to the second. To his consternation, the channel switches to the second channel, showing a foreign film. This experience brings him violent confusion, fear and elation.   

He keeps trying out his powers to be sure that indeed he can command things to do whatever he wants them to do. He changes the channels back and forth and asks chairs to rise in the air and go back to their positions until he is convinced that the powers are real. It now dawns on him that he still has a mission to accomplish in the world. He contemplates using these powers to serve the world. All the dreams he had for the world are now rejuvenated and he believes he will reform the world without expecting any credit to come his way. This implies that he dows not want anyone to know that he would be the one using his powers to accomplish whatever he would be doing. He puts himself in God's hands and leaves his house in his usual manner. 

His first miracle occurs when he encounters a taxi driver who refuses to stop when he signals him to stop. The driver waves his hand in refusal and proceeds with his journey. This is not the first time such a thing has happened to him. However, his level of irritation hit its all-time highest. He contemplates using his powers to make the driver suffer an accident but brushes the thought off upon reminding himself that whoever gets powers such as his is obliged to use them only for good reasons. Nonetheless, his anger gets the better of him, making him stare at the taxi's rare wheels with raging fury. Both the tires explode like a bomb. Frustrated, the driver pulls over to work on the tires. Though Tayyib thinks he has taught the man a lesson, he still isn't sure he is the cause of the accident. 

The driver turns down his offer to help repair the tyres by looking at him with resentment and rage in his eyes.  When Tayyib gets to the bus shelter, he witnesses an argument between a woman and a man inside a bus. As he studies the dimensions of the conflict, he decides to punish the man for suddenly slapping the woman in her face with a shocking impulsiveness. He directs all his anger at the man's stomach, causing him cramps. The man folds himself, moaning and screaming in pain. The bus remains still until an ambulance comes to fetch the man. Many voices on the bus shout their approval for what the man undergoes. With a lot of contentment, Tayyib says to himself that he has performed his duties in the best manner possible. 

Tayyib performs other memorable things such as filling a gaping pothole he spots on the way, locking an electrical box he finds hanging dangerously open and removing a pile of rubbish he trips on. He also drains sewer water that floods an alley using his awesome power. The neighborhood is impressed by the recent change. They liken it to an awakening in the nerves of the city and an outright renaissance. 

When Tayyib goes to a cafe to refresh himself with a cup of coffee, he hears an announcer giving promises. He is annoyed that the prophecies are the same ones that had excited him before but ended up causing him frustrations. He becomes so furious at the announcer that he has to figure out a way to punish him. The best punishment he thinks of is making the announcer sneeze unendingly. The man sneezes too much that he cannot make any announcement. He resorts to playing the song  "Walk Around and See" instead. Tayyib is jubilant at his achievement. He swears to cleanse the media of all that is not in line with the primary goals of both audio and visual media. He would make broadcasters sneeze, emit womanly cries, or run due to attacks of uncontrollable diarrhoea. This way, he would censor mass media communication and make it useful to all people. 

Another incident that draws his attention is a tax evader called Sulayaman Bey al-Hamalawi. He and his slavish hypocritical and sycophantic devotees and followers sit not far from Tayyib's seat at the cafe. Al-Hamalawi has a habit of disguising himself as one of the city's poor people to evade paying taxes. On this particular occasion, Tayyib orders him using his powers to go and pay all the millions of taxes he owes the tax department. To his own dismay, he appears before the taxmen and pays what he owes them. Tayyib hits the roof with excitement and knows that al-Hamalawi would be the talk of the newspapers the next day. 

Tayyib uses his powers for the rest of the day. He visits a maternity hospital, a consumer cooperative and a factory for electrical appliances, and many other places. He pronounces curses on some people, sends afflictions to others, and gives mercy to many others. In the end, both those he  chastises and those he blesses wonder what brings such drastic changes to them without their willingness. 

Meanwhile, Tayyib realizes he needs a plan to effectively achieve his goals. He, thus, looks for guidelines for government departments, factories, and private companies. He sets out to draw a comprehensive program for his mission. His optimism makes him believe that he will soon be done with correcting matters in his country and will then move to the outside world and correct matters as well. 

He notices a beautiful woman at the garden entrance. She takes a seat at the table next to him. She is exactly the girl he dreamt of in his youth. This sight arouses his passions to levels he had never witnessed since he married Hanniya. The indifference he had developed since he joined old age disappeares into thin air--he becomes as emotionally active as he was in his youth. 

She does not notice him. On his part, he wonders whether she knows he can use his power to do anything he wishes to do with her--"Does she have any idea that, in a split second, he could set her head-over-heels at will?" p. 4. He sends her a hidden message, and she answers back with her look. Eventually, he gives way to the resultant ecstasy. 

In Tayyib-al-Mahdi's opinion, one who intends to repair the world also has the right to heal himself. He gives way to his feelings and forgets his faith and good intentions. He closes his notebook to concentrate on his feelings for the woman. This symbolizes the official closure of his task. It is now time to heal himself. 

He is pained when he comes to his senses and realizes his mistake. Haniya notices that he is not in a good mood, but he doesn't  reveal the cause. He notices that he is no longer favoured. His power is gone. The TV channel cannot change anymore. He fails each time he tries. He now knows very well that he will be haunted by sadness for the rest of his life.  

Themes

Misuse of Power

Tayyib knows very well that anyone that receives the kind of power he posses is supposed to use it only for the good of everyone but goes ahead to misuse his power. He uses it to hit back at the taxi driver who refuses to take him to town. His irritation makes him wish the driver would suffer a road accident. Because of his anger, the car's rear wheels explode, forcing the driver to pullover. This is a very selfish way of using his newly acquired power. 

It's also very selfish of him to punish the announcer by making him sneeze massively. The announcer is employed and asked to make announcements on behalf of his employers. Therefore, he has no right to turn down the announcements regardless of whether they have been made before or not. Besides, the announcements are only unexciting to Tayyib, not other listeners: "Similar prophecies had excited him in the past, though in the past they had produced only frustration" (p. 3). This means the revenge against the announcer is personal and not everyone's position. 

Religion 

False promises 

Sexual immorality 

Poor governance 

Corruption 

character and characterization 

sample questions 

Our emotions can cloud our good intentions and lead to failure. Discuss the question based on Naguib Mahfouz's A Man of Awesome Power.