Bensalem Himmich’s 1990 landmark novel Majun al-Hukm (in English translation: The Theocrat) is both a work of historical fiction and a text that has contributed to shaping the genre of contemporary Arabic prison literature. The novel depicts the chaotic rule of al-Hakim bi-Amr Illah, the 10th century Fatimid caliph, whose descent into mental illness is marked not only by his ecstatic visions but also by arbitrary and autocratic decrees imposed on the Egyptian population by often times violent and oppressive means. In portraying to his readers the story of al-Hakim, Himmich deploys a fragmented collage of textual references that include a vast number of direct quotations from medieval Arab historians such as Ibn Iyas, Ibn al-Athir and al-Maqrizi. In addition, the author interweaves the various texts of the ruler’s decrees, Quranic verses, sermons, letters, and descriptive narrative that at times, imitates the style of various genres of classical Arabic prose re-cited in the text. This paper will examine the prominent role of intertextuality and its relationship to the intertwined themes of authority, violence, authoritarianism and resistance in Majnun al-Hukm. Himmich’s historical novel, which has been referenced in studies of Arabic prison literature, could easily be read in an allegorical fashion as a critique of much more contemporary political oppression and authoritarianism--the “years of lead” in Morocco or the repressive political practices of the Egyptian regime. However, the focus of this investigation will be on the ways in which the text’s structure calls into question the nature of narrative authority and authoritarianism itself. In doing so, the novel can be seen as a quintessentially metafictional work, and as such, a narrative that resists asserting a clear boundary between reality and fiction.