… and Islamic cultural identity. That is why, despite his young age, he immediately grasped the didactic value of these performances which he called al‘āb (games) that represented reality through jest and from which people learned amazing … drink and make merry. 5 . Actually, with Napoleon’s expedition, the Egyptians had already witnessed the first theatrical performances in Cairo held in French, organized to cheer up the French troops. 6 . Speaking of squares, al-Tahtāwī …