Ахмед Халед Тауфик: Жизнь и творчество египетского писателя

Egyptian writer (1962–2018)

Ahmed Khaled Tawfik Farrag (أحمد خالد توفيق فراج; 10 June 1962 – 2 April 2018), also known as Ahmed Khaled Tawfek, was an Egyptian author and physician who wrote more than 200 books, in both Egyptian Arabic and Classical Arabic. He was the first contemporary writer of horror, and science fiction in the Arabic speaking world, and the first writer to explore the medical thriller genre. Tawfik is considered by many to have been one of the most influential writers of his time. His legacy has influenced thousands of Arabic language authors.

Born on 10 June 1962 in the northern Egyptian city of Tanta, In January 1993, he published the first installment in his horror/thriller series Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa (ما وراء الطبيعة), which translates to Beyond nature or "Metaphysics". His writing style appealed to both Egyptian and broader Arabic speaking audiences, gaining him popularity in Egypt, and the rest of the Middle East.

Refaat Ismael is the main character of Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa. He is a retired doctor who leads a life chock full of paranormal experiences. A bachelor with a sarcastic attitude, this character is widely loved by fans of Egyptian pocket novels.

Alaa abdel Azeem is the main character of the Safari. He's a young Egyptian physician who works for a fictitious a mother, medical establishment named Safari, with branches in African countries. Safari's sole purpose is to hunt diseases. The character is married to Bernadette Jones, a Canadian pediatrician. This character is witty, nervous, not the greatest physician but a quick study who enjoys performing surgeries.

Abeer abdel Rahman is the main character of the Fantazia series. She's a simple Egyptian housewife with average looks, but well read. She marries a handsome computer programmer, Sherif, who has invented DG 2 (Dream Generator 2), a high tech device that can materialize preexisting human knowledge into dreams. With the device, Abeer has the chance to participate in any story she knows and live with any character (Superman, Batman, Adham Sabri).

Ahmed Khaled Tawfik died on 2 April 2018 at El Demerdash Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. He had undergone, on the same day, a cardiac ablation surgery to correct his long term arrhythmia. The immediate cause of death was reported to be cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation that he suffered a few hours after waking up from the surgery.

In April 2018, the Egyptian rock band Cairokee released a song titled He's No Longer A Child (Arabic: ما عاد صغيرا) based on lyrics from Dr. Tawfik's 1987 poem Coronary Arteries (Arabic: شرايين تاجية). On 10 June 2019, on Tawfik's 57th birthday, he was honored with a Google Doodle. On 5 November 2020, Netflix released Paranormal, a six part adaptation of Ma Waraa Al Tabiaa, which marked the streaming service's first original Egyptian series. On 31 October 2022, Shahid released the first episode of the first season of Room 207, a ten episode season adaptation of the book with the same title.