"While the young Beys and princes enjoyed the high life of the capital,

the more humble-born students applied themselves diligently to their work, and 'Ali Mubarak and his two friends Hammad 'Abd al-'Ati and 'Ali Ibrahim, in particular, consistently ranked highest in their class. It was also during Mubarak's Paris studies that he, like al-Tahtawi, displayed a particular interest in history.

An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by an Egyptian Cleric (Rifa'a Rafi' al-Tahtawi) (1826-1831), Translated and Introduced by Daniel K. Newman, (London: Saqi Books, 2011 [2004]), p. 59.