海角大神

There is at least one place where supreme order prevails amid all the political upheaval in Egypt: Abd El-Zaher Bookshop, which caters to many foreign embassies in Cairo as well as well-heeled customers around the globe.

Established in 1936, it has withstood the rise and fall of the supremely popular pan-Arabist Gamal Abdel Nasser; Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated after becoming the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel; Hosni Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years after Sadat; and most recently, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was deposed by the military July 3.

Here, they are concerned not with the latest conspiracy theories but with a timeless craft: binding books by hand. Amid Cairo鈥檚 chaotic streets, where the daily frictions of life in a teeming city have been exacerbated by political tension, the bookshop offers an oasis of perfection, from its carefully arranged shelves to the gilt spines and custom lettering that adorn its books.

鈥淚鈥檓 very precise in the work I do,鈥� says owner Mohammed Abd El-Zaher, who began as an errand boy before taking charge in 1962. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud because I am able to preserve something that is dying out. Especially now in Cairo with everything evolving very quickly, it鈥檚 very important to take care of these smaller details.鈥�

And at a time when many Egyptians are embarrassed about the turmoil in their country, once the most powerful and venerated in the Arab world, he also takes pride in the fact that foreigners value his shop鈥檚 work.

鈥淚t makes us so happy that an Egyptian product that we made with our hands can impress a foreigner,鈥� says Mr. Abd el-Zaher, whose team of 14 uses paper and other materials from as far away as France and India. 鈥淚t also really impresses us that we can get materials from abroad and make something that foreigners can鈥檛 make.鈥�

To be sure, the deterioration in Egypt鈥檚 economy has affected business, though not because of the drop in tourism. 鈥淣ormally tourists come here to ride the camels or see the pyramids鈥� 鈥撀爊ot pick their way through creaking carts and stray dogs to select a new guest book or travel journal from his store.

鈥淭he more important thing,鈥� he says, 鈥渋s that our clientele 鈥撀燼 certain type of foreigner intellectuals who like customized binding 鈥撀爐hese people have left.鈥�

Still, they鈥檙e ordering from abroad, sometimes paying up to six times more for shipping than for the binding work itself, just to possess themselves of the handiwork of an Egyptian tradesman toiling in the shadow of Cairo鈥檚 Al Azhar mosque 鈥� and the country鈥檚 unpredictable politics.

RELATED: Who's to blame for the Islamists' fall?