09.26.07
It’s me… Don’t you remember…?
Do you remember me…?
I used to resemble hope… with a promising green field and three white stars arranged together within a single crescent standing for your three religions living together in peace…
Don’t you remember me…?
I was always up and high… you used to attain my dignity and grace… no matter what…
I witnessed your whole history, and have been part of it…
I used to be sacred to you… you died to save me times and times before…
Do you remember those days when you decided to give me a different look…?
You explained that day that it fits the new phase you are heading to more…
And I didn’t complain… I never do…
You said that the red refers to the period before your victory… the period of struggles against the enemy to regain your freedom.
You affirmed that the white represents the glory and purity of your move which ended the earlier period’s flaws without bloodshed, and the advent of a new era full of hope. You even added two green stars to the white to symbolize your brotherhood with your fellow neighbor…
And you claimed that the black symbolizes the end of the oppression you were living in.
You changed me completely… Yet, I was very proud that you are putting such symbols in me… I was anticipating the bright future…
And even when you later on removed the two green stars… You put the eagle of your favorite leader instead… the eagle of Saladin… and that made me even prouder…
Don’t you remember the days of defeat… and the glorious victory that came afterwards…?
I was there… I cried with you when you were there in the sunny dessert shamefully retreating… and I was there when you moved beyond the impossible and regained your dignity… you were dying under me and I was up and high… reaching for the highest skies… telling the whole world stories about your courage, sacrifices, and bravery…
Can’t you understand the grace you once put on me…? How can you treat me the way you do now…? What happened to you…?
Did the lack of reality and the world of hallucinations you are living in turned you into… merely human… neither fully alive, nor dead… just breathing…
Don’t you see…?
If you can’t even remember me… how would you ever defend me…?
You still can’t recognize me…?
It’s me… who is always awake…
It’s me… who is always there… in the good times and the bad ones…
It’s me… who was once your way to being proud…
It’s me… who is now disgraced by you and by everyone…
It’s me… your Egyptian flag…
Rou…
26 September 2007
09.24.07
Cairo in Ramadan
Noise, Chaos, and Tension are the keywords that sadly describe Cairo in Ramadan…
I cannot deny that the three features already exist in almost all other days, yet, I noticed that they dramatically increase during the holy month…
Anyone happened to be in the streets in Ramadan’s rush hours (2 pm – 4 pm) knows what I’m talking about…
The vast number of cars jammed in all vital routes of Cairo… no matter where are you heading to, you’ll get stuck!
The anomalous disorder of these cars movement… yesterday I witnessed a Jeep moving off the street and up to the sidewalk just to gain some meters afar from the cars jam in the streets… A complete mess if I may say!
Not to mention the nervousness people deal with… calling each other by slang names, and even if they didn’t utter the words with their mouths they simply use their cars horns to say whatever they want – something that has become a very normal behavior nowadays even between girls… Hello, I wonder if anybody is fasting out there…!
I apologize in advance for the coming sentence… but, what the hell is going on with people…?
And don’t start talking about the non sense of lack of Nescafe and cigarettes… I’m not convinced that they can cause such a “Hullabaloo”… I’m one of the Nescafe addicts, and the lack of my morning black Nescafe truly causes me a terrible headache… yet, I don’t think I’m acting with this insanity…
I mean, this is really getting on my nerves to the extent that I decided never to leave work before 4 pm just to avoid this hassle in the streets…
Does anyone have an answer out there…?
Rou…
09.23.07
Books of the Golden Age – Kitab Al Manazir – Ibn Al-Haytham
“Sight does not perceive any visible object unless there exists in the object some light, which the object possesses of itself or which radiates upon it from another object.” ~ Ibn al-Haytham – The Book of Optics
The great astronomer, mathematician, and physician Iraqi Arab Muslim scientist Ibn al-Haytham (354- 430 hijri / 965 – 1039) (known in the West as Alhazen or Alhacen) seems to have written around 92 works of which, remarkably, over 55 have survived. The main topics on which he wrote were optics, including a theory of light and a theory of vision, astronomy, and mathematics, including geometry and number theory. However, the seven volume treatise on optics, physics, anatomy, mathematics and psychology, Kitab al-Manazir (The Book of Optics), is considered by many to be Ibn al-Haytham’s most important contribution. Alhazen wrote it from 1011 to 1021, when he was under house arrest and imprisoned as a madman in Cairo, Egypt.
In his Kitab al-Manazir, the eleventh-century scholar corrected misconceptions about vision and light that scholars had believed for centuries and offered a new solution to the problem of vision through the earliest discussions and descriptions on psychophysics and experimental psychology, the psychology of visual perception, and the camera obscura.
In medicine and ophthalmology, the book also made important advances in eye surgery, as it correctly explained the process of sight for the first time. In addition, the work also had an influence on the use of optical aids in Renaissance art and the development of the telescope and microscope.
The contents of the seven volumes go as follows:
- Book I is devoted to the structure of the eye.
- Book II discusses visual perception.
- Book III examines conditions necessary for good vision and how errors in vision are caused.
- Book IV discusses the theory of reflection.
- Book V introduces Alhazen’s problem and its solution.
- Book VI examines errors in vision due to reflection.
- Book VII, examines refraction.
Other important facts from Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitab al-Manazir:
- He was the first to prove that rays of light travel in straight lines, and carried out a number of experiments with lenses, mirrors, refraction, and reflection.
- He was also the first to reduce reflected and refracted light rays into vertical and horizontal components, which was a fundamental development in geometric optics.
- He also discovered a result similar to Snell’s law of sines, but did not quantify it and derive the law mathematically.
- He is also credited with the invention of the camera obscura; a precursor to the modern camera.
- He also wrote on the refraction of light, especially on atmospheric refraction, for example, the cause of morning and evening twilight.
- He solved the problem of finding the point on a convex mirror at which a ray coming from one point is reflected to another point.
- He also experimented on the dispersion of light into its constituent colors.
Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitab al-Manazir had an important influence on the development of optics, and science in general, as it drastically transformed the understanding of light and vision, and introduced the experimental scientific method. As a result, Ibn al-Haytham has been described as the “father of optics”, the “pioneer of the modern scientific method”, and the “first scientist”.
The Book of Optics has been ranked alongside Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica as one of the most influential books ever written in the history of physics.
All the best,
Rou…
On September 23rd, 2007
References:
http://www.druzehis toryandculture. com/historical_ research. htm
http://www.pre- renaissance. com/scholars/ ibn-al-haitham. html
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Book_of_Optics
http://www-history. mcs.st-and. ac.uk/Biographie s/Al-Haytham. html
09.19.07
Ramadan… I can’t feel it!
I cannot feel Ramadan this year… In fact I was talking with my intimate friend about this issue a few days ago… that sob7an Allah how our lives, our feelings, and even the way we used to enjoy things differed from last Ramadan to this one… and it’s not only about this year actually… I’ve been feeling indifferent towards it for a couple of years now…
Is it about the number of family gatherings and outings with friends…?
Well, if I would speak about myself… I would say that the family gatherings (3azayem Ramadan) are still the same numerically, and the outings of Iftars with friends are still the same or may be more than usual kaman…
I still go for the Qeyam prayers in some special mosque where the Quran recite takes you to another world…
I still go sometimes for events afterwards and so7oor later on…
Basically, my Ramadan day is almost the same… yet, something is missing all the way… and that something is simply the spirit…
Is it because I used to enjoy Ramadan with the presence of certain people who no more exist in my life…?
Or am I getting old… and failing to enjoy whatever simple things I used to enjoy…?
I’m not sure… However, even if the previous can explain the way I feel (or don’t feel), still, it doesn’t explain what everybody feels…?
What is it then…?
Is it financial issues and the continuous frustrations and depressions…?
I’m not sure… I mean… yea the drop in the standard of living, the crazy rise of the prices, and all the catastrophes – politically and economically – that Egypt passes through definitely affects the Egyptian citizen in every way… But, can it really get into their souls to the extent of not being able of feeling content anymore…? To the extent of not being able to enjoy something that has always been a part of the Egyptian identity…?
I mean… this is really scary… where are we heading to…?!
“Remember how Ramadan used to be…?”
Yes, I do remember…
I do remember the happiness and the excitement in the night of “ro2ya” when I used to wait – impatiently – to its start date…
I do remember elmesa7araty that I hardly ever hear any of them nowadays… I do remember the happiness of sharing and laughters in the family gatherings…
I do remember how the excitement in preparing outings with friends or dish parties Iftars in the school’s playground…
I do remember how it used to feel like…
And I do miss those days… when I was young, innocent, and happy…
Rou…
09.15.07
Books of the Golden Age – Ruba’yyat Al Khayyam
The Ruba’iyyat of Omar Khayyam was originally written in the Persian language during the 11th century. Omar Khayyam (1048 – 1123) was a consummate philosopher, mathematician and astronomer whose work extended far beyond the Ruba’iyyat. However, it is this work that survives today as a testament to the power and grace of Islamic and Persian culture at that time.
The title “Ruba’iyyat” itself is derived from the Arabic root word of 4; means “quatrains”: verses of four lines; and the poems are written in a series of quatrains.
The Ruba’iyyat is one of the most lyrical poetic works ever composed, and English-speaking readers know Khayyam’s work through the translation of Edward Fitzgerald* into five editions the first at 1859 and the last in 1889.
The subjects that Khayyam included in his Ruba’iyyat are diverse and intellectually provocative. In addition, Khayyam had often combined philosophy with social, ethical, and aesthetical concerns, providing his quatrains with depth as well as a spectrum of areas of interest. The logical structure of the ruba’i: thesis and anti-thesis synthesis makes it the most suitable vehicle for the expression of a philosophical dialog. In quatrain after quatrain Khayyam examines the futility of existence, the tyranny of time, the shortness of life, and the helplessness of man.
The major themes of Khayyam’s Ruba’iyyat are:
1. The secret of creation
2. The agony of existence
3. Predestination (life planned by the maker)
4. Time and tide (life created by Time)
5. Rotating particles (life consisting of particles)
6. Acquiescence to the fortuitous (life happening as an accident)
7. Seizing the moment
Khayyam’s masterpiece was translated to almost all living languages, and his verses have influenced later on many authors with quotations to use as titles in their works.
Of all the verses, the best known are the following:-
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread–and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness–
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
And
The Moving Finger writes, and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
And from Ahmed Ramy’s translation into Arabic language:
تناثرت أيام هذا العمر تناثر الأوراق حول الشجر
فانعم من الدنيا بلذاتها من قبل أن تسقيك كف القدر
أطفئ لظى القلب ببرد الشراب فإنما الأيام مثل السحاب
و
إن لم أكن أخلصت في طاعتك فإنني أطمع في رحمتك
وإنما يشفع لي أنني قد عشت لا أشرك في وحدتك
All the best,
Rou…
On September 15, 2007
References:
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Rubaiyat_ of_Omar_Khayyam
http://www.angelfir e.com/rnb/ bashiri/Poets/ Khayyam.html
كتاب رباعيات الخيام لأحمد رامي
* Some critics informally refer to the Fitzgerald’s English versions that a considerable portion of the “translation” was his own creation and not what Khayyam exactly wrote.
09.11.07
نظرة… و أخرى
“والذي نفسه بغير جمال… لا يرى في الحياة شيئا جميلا…”
لا أعرف لماذا تذكرت بيت الشعر ذاك الذي كنا نحفظه عن ظهر قلب في المدرسة وأنا أستمع الي الغمغمة المعتادة من زميلي في العمل “دي شغلانة إيه المهببة دي !”
هكذا هو دائما بعد كل محادثة تليفونية مع أي من العملاء… دائما ساخط علي العمل علي الرغم من أنه علي حد علمي مستقر في هذه الشركة منذ أكثر من عشرة أعوام…
لست أدري لماذا يصر بعض الناس علي رؤية الحياة دائما من هذا المنظورالضيق… وعلي جعل الحياة دائما بهذا اللون القاتم…
” يمكن الإحباطات والضغوط اللي إحنا عايشين فيها… الحياة برده صعبة وأنا معرفش ظروف الناس إيه…” فكرت في صمت…
ولكن هذه الضغوط سارية علي كل الناس… ألا يدري أنه بهذه الطريقة يزيد الأعباء المادية بأخرى نفسية… يحصر نفسه في أفق ضيق للغاية… يتحول الي شخص مكتئب وغير راض دائما… إن هذه النوعية من البشر لن تشعر بالرضا أبدا مهما حققت من نجاحات…
إنشغلت في العمل باقي اليوم، من اجتماع لآخر لساعات بعد مواعيد العمل الرسمية كالمعتاد… لم أتناول أي طعام طوال اليوم فتوقفت في طريق العودة أمام محل للوجبات السريعة قريب من منزلي… لفت نظري وأنا أعبر الشارع عامل نظافة يزيل المهملات علي الرصيف المقابل لسيارتي… حولت نظري عنه سريعا إلي إتجاه آخر عندما أتت عيني في عينيه… وأسرعت الخطي ناحية باب المطعم…
خرجت بعد دقائق أحمل وجبة الطعام وجلست في السيارة أتناوله وأنا أتابع بنظري عامل النظافة في صمت…
كان في منتصف الخمسين من عمره تقريبا…
يرتدي الملابس المعتادة لعمال النظافة… قديمة و مهلهلة… وإن لفت انتباهي نظافتها…
ترى في ملامح وجهه وخشونة يديه الظاهرة شقاء السنين…
يزيل المهملات باجتهاد وتركيز شديدين دون ان ينظر في أي إتجاه… ودون أن يحاول إستمالة العابرين في الطريق لإعطائه مال أو “حسنة” كما يطلقون عليها – مثلما يفعل أي من زملائه عادة…
أخذت أتابعه ببصري طويلا… فلفتت إنتباهي تلك الابتسامة المستقرة علي شفتيه ونقلت بصري الي عينيه لأجد نظرة رضا وقناعة وسماحة لم أرها في أعين أشخاص في مناصب وظروف أفضل بكثير…
صدق أو لا تصدق… لقد كنت أنظر إلي رجلا سعيدا…!
جاءت عيناي في عيناه مرة اخري… فابتسمت له هذه المرة وأنا أقول “رمضان كريم… كل سنة وحضرتك طيب…” رد إبتسامتي بضحكة صافية وقال ” وانتي طيبة يا ست الكل…”
إنطلقت بالسيارة عائدة الي المنزل وأنا أتمتم… “يا سبحان الله علي البني آدم… واحد بيشتغل في واحدة من أكبر الشركات في العالم ومش عاجبه ومش راضي… و واحد إحتمال مايكونش معاه اللي يكفي عشا الليلا دي ومبسوط وراضي !!!”.
صدق إيليا أبو ماضي إذ قال ” كن جميلا ترى الوجود جميلا…”
رحاب رجائي
في 11 سبتمبر 2007
09.05.07
بحبك… قصة قصيرة
لم يجد في نفسه الرغبة في القيادة فقرر ركوب مترو الأنفاق لأول مرة منذ سنوات… جلس في مقعده يتفقد الناس من حوله بنظرة خاوية و سرعان ما نقل بصره للجهة الأخرى متكئا برأسه على زجاج النافذة و شرد بذهنه بعيدا…
“بحبك… عارفة إنك مش بتفكر ترتبط تاني و إنك اتعقدت من جوازتك الأولانية… بس دي حاجة أنا حاساها و ما كنتش أقدر أخبي جوة قلبي أكتر من كدة… أنا مش عايزة حاجة صدقني… ومش مستية رد منك… أنا بس عايزاك تبقى عارف إني بحبك…”
هل أحبها…؟ لا يعرف…
فقط يعرف أنه كان يرتاح كثيرا في الحديث معها… ينسى أحزانه عند رؤيتها… و يشتاق إليها عند فراقهما…
كانت تجعله يضحك… و هو الذي لم يقابل أبدا امرأة جعلته يضحك… معها كان يضحك من أعماق قلبه و يشعر كأنه طفل فرح بقدوم العيد… ابتسم و هو يتذكر أنها علقت ذات يوم على أيقونة تمثل طفل يضحك و هو يصفق بيديه في جذل – كان قد بعثها إليها أثناء محادثة جرت بينهما من خلال الإنترنت في إحدى سفرياته الكثيرة… علقت يومها أنه يشبه ذلك الطفل الضاحك و أنها تشعر كأنه إبنها… و كأنها مسئولة عنه…
كانت تجعله يبكي وهو يحدثها عن أحزانه و تجاربه المريرة… و هو الذي لم يبك أبدا أمام أي شخص… فما بالك بالبكاء أمام إمرأة غريبة عنه…
غريبة…؟! هل كانت غريبة عنه…؟!
كلا… لم تكن أبدا… بل كانت أقرب شخص إليه…
دائما هي آخر شخص يودعه في المطار في أي من رحلاته المتعددة… و دائما هي أول شخص ينتظره عند وصوله… ناهيك عن كم المهاتفات الدولية طوال فترات السفر…
كانت دائما قريبة… و دائما في إنتظاره… مهما طال الغياب…
“إحسان عبد القدوس ليه قصة إسمها “سيدة في خدمتك”، عارفها…؟ أهو أنا بقيت حاسة إن الست دي أنا…” مازحته ذات يوم… “ماتكشرش كدة، أنا بهزر… ثم إن القصة ملهاش أي علاقة بينا أصلا… العنوان بس يمكن…”
إمرأة عجيبة هي… لم يقابل مثلها أبدا…
تجمع في روح واحدة ما بين الطفولة و النضج… ما بين القوة و الضعف… ما بين الصمود و الإستسلام… ما بين الجرأة و الخجل…
كيف لإمرأة واحدة أن تجمع كل هذه التناقضات بداخلها…؟!
إنقطع سيل أفكاره مع توقف المترو عند محطة المعادي… عبر بوابة المحطة و أوقف أول تاكسي جاء أمامه…
“شارع بورسعيد لو سمحت… بعد المزلقان على طول…”
جلس في الكنبة الخلفية كما كانت تفعل و ليس في المقعد الأمامي بجوار السائق كعادته…
“على اليمين هنا بعد إذنك… ممكن تستناني دقيقة و راجعلك… عندي مشوار تاني”
ترجل من التاكسي و عبر الشارع في إتجاه محل الورد المفضل لها… إبتاع زهرة بنفسج… زهرتها المفضلة التي أهدتها له في ذلك اليوم الذي تحدثا فيه عن مشاعرها نحوه لأول مرة…
عاد إلى السيارة شارحا للسائق وجهته التالية…
أطال النظر إلى زهرة البنفسج في يده متذكرا كم من المرات ضحكت بركن فمها الأيسر و تضرج وجهها بحمرة الخجل و هي تهمس له بكلمات حب لم يرد عليها بالمثل أبدا…
كان يفكر فى كل شىء و لا شىء… رأسه مزدحمة بكلمات و أفكار و رغبات ود لويستطيع الضغط على زر فيطفئها…
“اتفضل يا بيه…”
…………….
“يا بيه… يا بيه…”
انتبه من شروده على صوت السائق… “وصلنا يا بيه… إتفضل…”
ترجل من التاكسي و مشى بضع أمتار بداخل الساحة الواسعة حتى وصل إلى غايته…
و على قبرها انحنى .. و وضع زهرة البنفسج و همس للمرة الأولى “بحبك…”
رحاب رجائي
في 5 سبتمبر 2007
09.04.07
Yes… I’m proud to be a templar…
Don’t panic! This is not another “proud to be a templar” post…
Don’t worry; I wouldn’t start talking about the enormous number of events PTP conducted throughout 5 years…
I wouldn’t mention the spiritual Cairo walks and city tours, nor the amazing presentations, or the inspiring poetry nights…
I wouldn’t talk about the argumentative yet positive debates held, nor the book discussion sessions that gave many templars the opportunity to meet their favorite writers sometimes…
I wouldn’t even utter a word about the infinite number of emails that added tons of knowledge to the readers’ minds, or talk about how amazing other emails touched one’s heart and mind…
No dears, I’m not going to talk about any of these… I’m only going to talk about my side of the story…
No, don’t get me wrong… I’m not going to describe what PTP presents to me… because in fact, I wouldn’t be able to put this into words…
I can only talk about the difference that PTP made to my life… In other words… “Me… Before and After…”
Should I say them into points…? Ok!
I learned a lot of knowledge on topics that I never thought of investigating before…
I visited many places that I used to have a shallow look upon, through my well shut car window…
I became a book worm… yes I used to love reading but not to that extent…
I gained the courage to express my thoughts in words and share them with people I don’t know… and get feedback in return… which consequently taught me how to accept critics… and “listen” more than “talk”…
I have been touched and supported by people who barely knew me… and this taught me a lesson about the beautiful side of the human nature…
I learned to love my country in a different way, and to manage my anger from the everyday disappointments by searching for positive means to develop my community…
I understood the meanings of the words such as “tomorrow”, “hope”, and “dream”…
I’m not saying that I was a shallow person before I joined PTP… and it’s not that PTP made me see things I didn’t see… it’s just that… PTP made me see the same things I used to see but from a new perspective… a much more positive one… it provided me with the most important thing… “A hope for a better tomorrow…”
So, did it turn out to be another “proud to be a templar” email…?
Well… seems it did… and frankly speaking it’s ok with me… because I AM proud to be a templar… indeed…
Hope it wasn’t a long boring post…
Have a splendid day all…
Rou…
