Armanousa the Egyptian

The author classifies this novel as the second in his series "Novels of Islamic History," and it tells the story of "Armanousa," the daughter of Patriarch Cyrus (known in Islamic texts as al-Muqawqis), the Byzantine governor of Egypt during the Islamic conquest. This young woman possessed many admirable qualities: she was gentle, kind, beautiful, and pleasant-spirited, to the point that she was considered an example of intelligence and beauty. Through this fictional character, Zaidan recounts the details of the conquest of Egypt by Amr ibn al-As in the early Islamic period (640 CE), during the era of the Rightly Guided Caliph Umar. He also describes Roman rule in Egypt before the Islamic conquest, the humiliation and oppression suffered by the Copts at the hands of the Roman rulers, and the actions of al-Muqawqis, the Roman governor of Egypt, who sided with the oppressed Copts to support them against the suffering they endured at the hands of the Romans, his own countrymen. Through these events, he also touches upon the opinions of the Copts of Egypt and some Romans regarding the Muslim Arabs who came to conquer Egypt under the leadership of Amr ibn al-As. Al-As. The novel also discusses the state of the Arabs, their customs, morals, and clothing, as well as some of the customs of the Copts and Romans during that era.