The issue of identity for Egypt's Nubian minority has received renewed interest with the 2011 revolution. Yet even among Nubian activists, the question of seeking inclusion versus autonomy remained a divisive issue. Leading writer Haggag Oddoul's work in the drafting of the 2014 constitution led to its inclusion of a call for Nubian return to "original areas." The most prominent Nubian author, however, Idris Ali, died a year before the revolution. This paper looks at the works of Idris Ali and argues that despite his bitterness, his work called for Nubian inclusion in the Egyptian national identity, rather than autonomy and that Ali himself mocked the idea of a "right of return."