With political regimes intent on controlling publication and the flow of information in parts of the Arab world, dissent and opposition are systematically expelled from traditional media outlets and the public domain. The loss of national space for independent voices has encouraged the proliferation of a liminal text called the “rumor” (ishaa’a), which struggles to fit into media and genres, whether they be new or conventional. In Egypt, the rumor surrounding the death or illness of President Hosni Mubarak is such a text that blends and adapts many literary genres, constantly intersecting with political power. Beginning with its more recent manifestations in the Arabic-language press, the rumor regarding Mubarak’s health and death can be traced across several generic boundaries: the national newspapers (al-dust?r, al-bad?l, al-ahr?m), the Egyptian blogosphere, and the novel Maqtal al-rajul al-kab?r (The Murder of the Big Man) (1999) by Ibrahim ‘?sa. In this paper, I will investigate the rumor not only as an expression of the writer’s departure from conventional genres, but also as a tool of resistance endowed with a particular “performative power” as theorized by J.L. Austin and others. Specifically, I will argue that the rumor draws its force and inspiration from such genres as radH (vernacular cursing), hij?’ (the classical invective), and waswasat ibl?s (the whispering of the devil) in order to contest the oral authority of the Egyptian state. An investigation of the word itself (ishaa’a, “rumor”) in the medieval Arabic lexicon Lisan al-Arab can provide additional conceptual clarification. Further parallels and theoretical support will be drawn from Neubauer’s celebrated study of the rumor in the “western” literary tradition (The Rumour: A Cultural History, 1999). By examining the connection between textuality and power in Egypt, this paper will expand the scope of investigation undertaken by cultural and media studies into the Arab Blogosphere.