After a halting, stilted walk to receive me at the gate of the Zamalek Club, where he has become a near-celebrity, Husām al-Massāh opened our meeting with bombast.

“I have no party except the Egyptian Party!”

“I am a Coptic Muslim!”

“I was worth ten men on the committee!”

His verbal exuberance contrasted with his impaired mobility. As we walked to a table he grabbed my hand, and I am not sure if it was an immediate gesture of friendship, or simply to help him keep his balance. Massāh has been afflicted with cerebral palsy since birth, but it has not affected his spirit.