Abdou would have called this a real Mazāg, accompanying the word as all Egyptians do, with a gesture of the hand- a flattened palm brought to the side of the head- signifying blissful plenitude and the prolonged, cultivated consumption of everyday pleasures.
-Out of Egypt, André Aciman
How many times did I answer KhairAllah’s dawn call to Irkab!, Mount Up!, with that universal Egyptian retort I’d learned early in my First Year Colloquial class, Mafēsh Mazāg, I’m Not in the Mood, and how many times did he respond with, In the Desert There are No Moods, Only Obligations.