My mind wandered away and I imagined what I read in history
books and references turning into a reality that is almost identical to what
happened long times ago… as Baghdad, Basra, Kufa and all Iraq fell down… also,
Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, Homs and all Levant countries… before them, I saw
Palestine falling down as well… this falling down extended to the west Arab
countries where Cyrenaica or Barqah,
Fezzan, Tripoli and all Libya fell down too… then all Arab-talking nations
became threatened with the same plague…
There was no difference in destruction, devastation,
killing and forced displacement between old-time invasion by Tatars and Mongols
and current-time one by the USA, its allies, Zionists… and also by terrorism
groups like Daesh, an-Nusra, al-Qaeda, muslim brotherhood and salafists!
Go back to that era’s sources and references
when that bloody invasion stormed Iraq and Levant countries until it stood at
the gates of Egypt… read what the papers write now… remember what you have been
watching and still watching on TV… and you will not be surprised if you
discovered it’s an identical copy of what happened long time ago.
Until this point, there is nothing new I said...
it’s a continuation of the same reiterated everyday speech calling for thanking
God for saving Egypt from facing the same destiny… and that it was Egypt’s army
and its leader Sisi who stood against such malicious plans… and that if it wasn’t
for them, we would have been doomed by now… and indeed, I have nothing else to
add but to remind ourselves of what happened to take moral… not only us, but
also those who stood against such evil; meaning our armed forces and its
leadership.
Here I excerpt a text from one of the accredited references that is based on authentic sources; it’s a book titled “In Islamic Egypt”… this book was republished in 2015 by the General Egyptian Book Organization… written on its elegant cover “edited by Dr. Zaki Muhammed Hassan, First Lieutenant Abdel-Rahman Zaki, co-authored by Gaston Feet, Mahmoud Ahmed, Younis Mahran, Ismail Abul-Aienain”
What is really good about that book written
more than a century ago is that it was an initiative by “Al-Moqtataf” newspaper
owned by Mr. Fouad Sarrouf… meaning it was a civic effort away from the government
at that time… and that those who contributed to writing the book are a group of
experts in the Islamic history and the history of middle ages… and they all
volunteered to write… it’s really sad that our current-day newspapers with the
billions they waste away do not do the same thing.
In the chapter titled “Egypt’s Islamic capitals”, First Lieutenant Abdel-Rahman Zaki wrote about al-Fustat, al-Askar, al-Qatae’a and Cairo… when he wrote about Cairo which was defined by the most famous historian al-Maqrizi (766 – 845 H C), author of al-Khitat, he said “Cairo has become at the heart of the nation, centre of its commerce, culture and lighthouse of religion”…
Then he asserts the historic reality that everyone
interested in history knows; such reality is that Egypt has witness disasters
before but it never fell… actually, it always comes back stronger… Al-Maqrizi
witnessed two important phases in the history of Cairo; the first was when
Cairo came back stronger after the plague it had during the time of al-Nasser
King as it was one of the worst times Egypt witnessed… the second was at the
beginning of the nineteenth century when Cairo was afflicted with three
disasters; plague, high prices and decrease in Nile level… but again, it came
back stronger as in Sultan Qaitbay’s era, Cairo was
full of a wonderful collection of elite structures he established and which represent
best the Mamluk architecture like Temraz mosque, Azbak mosque, Yashbak palace,
Qaitbay’s school, mausoleum,
complex and Sabil, his complex in Bab el-Nasr, another one in as-Sorogiya, Elqobbah
Elfedaweyah and al-Roda school.
Here I invite you all to read the following relatively-long
text which Lieutenant First Abdel-Rahman Zaki excerpted from Abdel-Rahman
al-Rafei’s book to compare it to our present time events… I will excerpt the
whole test too for I believe that saving Egypt from our present time Tatars and
Mongols – meaning the malicious American and Zionist plans which are savagely
executed by terrorism groups falsely alleging to have Islamic religious
reference – can be achieved by respecting and valuing culture including
literature and arts… and by appreciating true democracy and society cohesion around
a comprehensive national goal… otherwise, Egypt’s renaissance wouldn’t be achievable…
Abdel-Rahman al-Rafei says: “… it’s due to Bahari, Burji and
Circassian Sultans that our Arabic literature was saved from
Mongols’ invasion which were about to exterminate all Arab literature and sciences in the whole east…
and so Egypt was the safe haven for all Arabic talking people who fled Iraq, Persia,
Syria and Khorasan…
The Arabic literature, arts and sciences
enjoyed the protection of kings and Sultans in Egypt when a bunch of elite
poets, artists and scientists thrived during that era like al-Busayri, author
of Al-Burda and Al-Serag Al-Warraq… Ibn Nabata al-Masry… al-Qalqashandi, author
of Sobh Al-Aa’sha… al-Abshihi, author of Al-Mustatref… Ibn Manzoor, author of
Lesan El-Arab… Ibn Hesham, the great philologian… Ibn Abdel-Zaher… al-Qastallani,
the famous one specialized in Hadith and theology… Shams ed-Din as-Sakhawi,
author of Al-Daw’a Al-Lame’a… Ibn Khalkan, the famous historian and author of
Waffeyat Al-A’yaan… al-Safadi, author of Al-Wafi… Ibn Hagar, the historian and the
best in the field of Hadith at his time… al-Aini, the historian and Hadith
specialized… Ibn Waseef Shah… Ibn Daqmaq… al-Maqrizi, author of Al-Khitat…
al-Makeen Ibn al-Ameed Abulfeda, author of Taqweem Al-Buldan… al-Zahabi…
al-Nowairi, author of Nahayet Al-Arb… Ibn Fadlallah al-Omari, author of Masalek
Al-Absar fi Mamalek Al-Amsar… Ibn Aqeel… Ibn Taghri Bardi, author of Al-Nogoom
Al-Zahera… Gala ed-Din as-Siyouti… ad-Demiri, author of Hayat Al-Hayawan… Ibn
Eias, the historian who witnessed the Ottoman invasion… also, Egypt has
welcomed at that time a bunch of elite scientists and philosophers in the east
like Ibn Taymmiya, Ibn al-Qayem al-Gawziya and Ibn Khaldoun”…
Then came the decline and deterioration when
Egypt was invaded by the Ottomans… “Cairo has lost two of its most important
factors of its life; its status and people… as it had to abdicate its stature
for Istanbul, giving up its spiritual status and also lost its commercial
importance… and so Cairo, in the time of Ottomans, was nothing more than an old
city with monuments and memories… and stayed in the secondary position until
Muhammed Ali was appointed ruler of Egypt… and so he regained back its old
legacy”… Excerpt ends here.
For all I mentioned above, I call upon Egypt’s
leadership and government to open our country for all literature writers,
artists, scientists and intellectuals of Iraq, Levant, Palestine, Libya and all
places destroyed by our present time Tatars and Mongols… Egypt’s renaissance
won’t be achieved if its culture doesn’t thrive… literature, arts, innovations…
only at this time, Abdel-Fattah as-Sisi along with Egypt’s army will be honored
in history… not only for saving the state and fighting terrorism, but also for
contributing to Egypt’s renaissance by opening its gates for everyone.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was
published in Al Ahram newspaper on September 1, 2016.
To see the original article,
go to:
#alahram
#ahmed_elgammal #history #Egypt
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