Kämil originated this particular dualism in the definitions of fanatical [mut`asib] and barbarian [mutawahish] and asserted it as a basis for Egyptian domination. As he described them, the Sudanese were fanatic and savage, particularly in terms of religion. Only Egyptian Muslims knew how to translate this wild energy into a viable society. “We know them,” Kämil seemed to be saying of the Sudanese, “but we are not them.” His represen- tation of the Sudanese, however, distorted their image with the same force that British invectives against savagery visited on the image of Egyptians. The identification with both colonizer and colonized within the Egyptian nationalist movement presents itself vividly here.The speeches and writings of Kämil and his imitators shows an effort to twist through the narrow parameters by which civilization was gauged in the 1890s. But by using the measurements and instruments of the master, Kämil in important ways offered his submission to British hegemony.

Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Coloni…, loc. 753