Fiction
? All Men are Equal — But Some are More, (in Hebrew: Shavim ve-Shavim Yoter), novel, 1974
? Storm among the Palms, Sufa ben ha-D'kalim, novel, 1975
? Refuge, (in Hebrew: Hasut), novel, 1977
? A Handful of Fog, (in Hebrew: Hofen shel Arafel), novel, 1979
? Tin Shacks and Dreams, (in Hebrew: Pahonim ve-Halomot), novel, 1979
? A Trumpet in the Wadi, (in Hebrew: Hatsotsrah ba-Wadi), novel, 1987, ISBN 965-13-0455-3
? Love among the Palms, (in Hebrew: Ahava ben ha-D'kalim), novel, 1990, ISBN 965-070084-6
? Victoria, novel, 1993, ISBN 965-13-0867-2
? Brown Devils, (in Hebrew: Shedim Khumim), novel, 1993, ISBN 965-448-022-0
? The Third Wing, (in Hebrew: Ha-Canaf Ha-Shlishit), novelette, 2000, ISBN 965-07-0901-0
? Water Kissing Wate, (in Hebrew: Mayim Noshkim le-Mayim), novel, 2001, ISBN 965-13-1516-4
? Nabila, (in Hebrew: Yonim be-Trafalgar), novel, 2005, sequel / dialogue to the novella 'Return to Haifa' by Ghassan Kanafani ISBN 965-13-1761-2
? Aida, novel, 2008
? The ABC go to the Sea, (in Hebrew: Otiyot Holchot La-yam), children's book, 2009, ISBN 978-965-517-456-4
? The firs day in Israel; in Haifa, short story, 1997
Non Fiction
? Ele Shivtei Israel (Twelve Conversations on the Question of Communities) 1984
? Gvulot ha-Ruah (Unbounded Ideas) 2000 ISBN 965-02-0138-6
? Ha-khavaya Ha-yisraelit (The Israeli Experience) 2001
Plays
- Devils in the Basement, 1983— Haifa Theater
- Twins, 1988 — Haifa Theater
- He, 1999 - Tzavta Tel-Aviv
"Michael, 41 years in Israel, writes and dreams already in Hebrew, but notwithstanding, he did not lock the door of his other cultural home, his Arab house behind him. Therefore in each his works there are heroes of both peoples. He builds bridges. Stubbornly. Michael went on to say: "I write for the stage in order to tempt fate. For experience other things. I am a novelist. My home is the novel."
Works translated by Sami Michael
Sami Michael undertook two sizeable tasks of translation from Arabic, his mother tongue into Hebrew, his second language; the first being a trilogy by the Egyptian Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz, Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk (original Arabic title: Bein el-Qasrein, 1956), Palace of Desire (Qasr el-Shoaq, 1957), Sugar Street (El-Sukkareyya, 1957) This Hebrew translation was the first translation of the trilogy. It is part of the academic curriculum in Israel.
In an interview with Imam Al-Chakim , the film director, Tuefik Salah, a close friend of Naguib Mahfouz, he spoke of his intimate relations between Mahfouz and three Israeli figures: two researchers and the author Sami Michael: "The translation of the work of Mahfouz by Sami Michael into Hebrew, held great importance for Mahfouz, which he sees as a significant step that indicates the possibility of making peace and coexistence between the Arab world and Israel. Michael met with Mahfouz many times, who never hid his high estimation and gratitude for the translation of the Cairo Trilogy into Hebrew, and which was reflected in the way Mahfouz welcomed Michael into his home and presented him to his close friends.During a visit to the home of Mahfouz Prof. Sasson Somekh noticed the Hebrew translation of the trilogy on a bookstand next to his writing-desk. Mahfouz told him: "the symbolism of this translation bestows it special value".
"Before I started to translate the Cairo Trilogy I didn't know Mahfouz nor had I read any of his work. For years I did not read any Arabic prose once I had made the shift from writing in Arabic to writing in Hebrew, as I was afraid for my newly acquired language. The Cairo Trilogy was my first literary translation from Arabic to Hebrew. In order to keep up the suspense, I didn't read the trilogy before working on it and I translated the three volumes sentence by sentence, without knowing what was waiting for me in the next line and in this way I succeeded in working and getting enjoyment from it. The process of translation gave me an opportunity to look at the Hebrew with an external eye. Hebrew is not my mother tongue, and not once have I been forced to write a whole sentence instead of one word in Hebrew that escaped me and instead the word in Arabic English would come to my mind.
"The translation is not only a lingual matter but rather an attempt to convey from one culture to the other. The traps are hidden mainly in the effort to find an equivalent to the different things and fields which are unique to a specific culture and society. In the translation I did not use the dictionary, but I worked only according to my senses.
"The translation from Arabic is an interesting challenge. In Arabic there are two languages: Literary and colloquial. Many authors including Mahfouz write dialogue in Literary Arabic and not in the colloquial, and while the reader is reading, in his own mind he converts the dialogue from the literary to the spoken in order to identify with the characters. For me it was a thrilling challenge that took me 8 years. Translation is an art in itself and I was able to delve into the depths of Hebrew.The complete Hebrew translation was the first translation of the trilogy into a foreign language. Peace between Israel and Egypt came only after I had completed the translation of the first volume and only then we arrange a meeting in the cafe ' Rish' in Cairo. There I found an Intellectual and a conversationalist, who was exceptionally modest and pleasant."
The second translation was of
lyrics of the Great Arab 'lyricists', lyricists such as Farid al-Atrash, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, the prince Abdulla al-Faisal . It was for a 45 part television series, performed by famous Arab singers such as Umm Kulthum and Fairuz.