Crossing cultural borders, the localization of literary texts emerges as a key strategy for understanding and accepting works within the target context. The present study aims to identify and prioritize the functions and strategies of localization in Mohammed Taymour’s collection Matrah Al-Ayoun. The necessity of this research stems from the scarcity of quantitative–qualitative studies on the literary localization of classical texts. Employing a qualitative–quantitative content analysis of eight selected stories, four main functions—‘creating a sense of closeness and empathy’ (87/00 %), ‘social–political critique’ (75/00 %), ‘enhancing realism and credibility’ (62/5 %) and ‘transmitting culture and history’ (50/00 %)—were identified, and the key strategies of ‘linguistic indigenization’ and ‘spatial indigenization’ were examined. Findings indicate that Taymour, by using Egyptian names, vocabulary and dialect and by providing detailed descriptions of local dress and architecture, has achieved a suitable balance between fidelity to the original text and meeting the cultural needs of his audience. These results underscore the importance of preserving the translator’s voice and minimizing cultural disjunction, and it is recommended that Egyptian readers’ reactions and similar localization projects in other communities be further explored.