The Harafish

infobox Book |
name = The Harafish
title_orig = Malhamat al-harafish
translator = Catherine Cobham


image_caption =
author = Naguib Mahfouz
cover_artist =
country = Egypt
language = Arabic
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Maktabat Misr (1977 arabic)
Doubleday (Eng. trans.)
release_date = 1977
english_release_date = April 1994
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-385-42324-1 (Eng. trans.)
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Harafish" ( _ar. الحرافيش) (in orig. Arabic "Malhamat al-harafish") is a novel written by Naguib Mahfouz. It comprises a series of episodes in a dozen generations of a family from the Egyptian urban rabble (the "harafish"). Many of the members of this family become clan chiefs in an alley in the city; some of them are benefactors to the other members of the harafish; some are more corrupt. Neither the location within Egypt nor the time of the events is ever identified.