In the 1940s, Mahfouz was deeply attracted by "family novels" that represented the lives of several generations. He understands that writing this kind of novel requires a long period of accumulation and plenty of time. Still, he was unsettled by an urge to try. So he carefully read "The Forsytes" by Galsworthy, "War and Peace" by Tolstoy, and "The Buddenbrooks" by Thomas Mann, and found his artistic feeling from them. After completing his four famous social novels "New Cairo", "The Beginning and End", "Helili Market" and "Midaq Alley", he started the most important sprint in the history of Arabic novels after two years of preparation. He faced the wall for four years and devoted all his efforts to complete his family novel, which is 1,500 pages long. Due to its length, it was divided into three parts when published. Each part focuses on a generation and is named after the neighborhood in which it is located. The fact that a work is divided into three sections and that they echo back and forth is a testament to the meticulousness of its layout and planning. The novel uses delicate realistic techniques to describe the different destinies of three generations of a businessman family in Cairo. From the historical changes of the family, the most basic cell of society, it reflects the social changes in the most important period of Egypt's modern history, the struggle between the new and the old, darkness and light. The author does not directly describe the major historical events in Egypt from 1919 to 1946, and does not write much about them. He concentrated all his passion and pen on describing people, showing the changes in the external world from the emotional changes reflected by family members, and revealing the process of Egypt's modern history, especially the Egyptian bourgeois party Bift Party and its leader Zairul and others. activities and historical role. The novel also outlines the history of modern Egypt's human relations and customs through the lives and intricate relationships between the two families of Abshe, Jawad and Shao Kaishi for several generations. The novel depicts the different lifestyles and family traditions of traditional families and aristocratic families, relationships between elders and children, weddings and funerals, clothing, architectural layout, room decoration, etc., all of which prove that the trilogy is worthy of being an encyclopedia. A masterpiece.

Mahfouz has successfully portrayed and created many typical characters with distinctive and vivid personalities with his vivid pen. The most unforgettable ones are the autocratic parents Abshe and Jawad, the old-style Arab woman-mother Emina, and the young son Kemal, the low representative of a generation of intellectuals who were lost and confused in the collision of Eastern and Western cultures. The character of each character is extremely complex and is a unity of multiple contradictions. It is difficult for people to evaluate it in terms of "good" or "bad". From it we can not only see the accumulation of history and culture, but also discover the role and influence of the movements of the times. The parents, Abdul and Jawad, are defenders of the Islamic religious system in Egypt. He used traditional feudal ethics and religious beliefs to restrain his family. When a daughter gets married, her future son-in-law must marry him. His wife is his slave, and he only listens to his words and is never allowed to go beyond the limits. And he himself seems to have the privilege of not following the rules. He is a devout Muslim and completes his religious homework seriously. At the same time, he used "Allah is forgiving" to justify his debauchery and pleasure-seeking. He is an honest businessman, quite prestigious and popular in the business community; as an Egyptian, he also has a patriotic heart. He supported national leaders, donated money to the Wafd Party, and signed the power of attorney for delegations demanding independence. However, he forced his son to swear not to participate in the patriotic struggle. The author reveals the duplicity, contradictory yet unified personality characteristics of this character from all levels. Kemaler is a very important character in the novel. His experience reflects the ideological and psychological crisis of special significance in the history of Egypt's modern development. The author uses psychological analysis to describe this character's inner world and the intense conflict of thoughts and feelings in a nuanced and nuanced way. He accepted the influence and impact of different cultures. As a child, his heart was filled with love for Allah and the motherland. In elementary school, he made friends with British soldiers. It was only after the death of his second brother that he learned about hatred. In middle school, I admired famous scholars and was determined to reform society. In college, under the influence of Western democratic and scientific trends, I came from the mythical dream of the East and pursued truth and freedom. Science changed his religious beliefs. His love for the aristocratic lady who received Western education reflects his pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. However, the harsh reality shattered his dream. The contradiction between reality and ideals troubled him, the old ones were denied, and new beliefs could not be established for a while. He lost the psychological balance of the previous generation and fell into the spiritual crisis of the previous generation. The third generation, regardless of whether they are left, center or right, have established firm beliefs and fought for them. The different fates of the three generations fully demonstrate Egypt's spiritual trajectory from modern times to modern times. The structure of the trilogy is unique and masterful. Time becomes an important part of the organic whole of the novel. Mahfouz paid great attention to the role of time in social development. Each one ends with the death of a person and the birth of a little life. Readers can feel the pulse of the times in the alternation of life and death, new and old, and see the profound changes brewing within society. The novel ends with the arrest of Ahmed, a third-generation communist who believes in communism, and Monyim, the backbone of the Muslim Brotherhood, which foreshadows the future of Egypt and is still reasonable to this day.

After the trilogy came out, it was immediately praised by the public opinion circles. French orientalist Jacques Germy wrote a 70-page article praising its achievements. Mardin, a West German oriental scholar, called Mahfouz the "Goethe of Egypt." The Egyptian critic Lagaou Negosh compared him to Dickens, Balzac, and Tolstoy. This work established Mahfouz's position in the history of Arab novels and pushed Arab realist novels to the top.