Hence, his stories depicted a peaceful coexistence in which differing cultures and religions coexist; this philosophical stance regarding east–west encounters dominated from his earliest writings.[4] A prominent figure that strongly influenced Douagi was Mahmud al-Bayram al-Tunisi (1893–1961);.[5] the personal and professional relationship between them was one that embraced a vast spectrum of contemporary politics, arts, and ideological currents that electrified the cultural scene in Tunisia during the 1930s.