12 posts tagged “books”
Dr. Abdel Wahab El-Messiri , a great thinker whom I doubt that a single post can give him the respect he deserves. This man is world known academically but I do not think that he was well publicly like Fukuyama , yeah I believe that he is like him and even better and greater. He died last Thursday after long time illness.
Dr. Abdel Wahab public fame came with the publishing of his controversial book/ encyclopedia that he spent 20 years in writing it “The encyclopedia of Jews,Judaism and Zionism”.
This encyclopedia caused him a lot fame and a lot trouble as we will see later
Dr. Abdel Wahab El-Messiri was born in 1938 in Damanhur , North Delta. He was graduated from Alexandria University in the faculty of Arts in the English section in year 1955. He travelled to the U.S in 1963 and took his master degree from Columbia University , then he took the PhD from Rutgers University in year 1969. When he turned to Egypt he began to teach in several universities like in Ain Shams in Cairo and king Soud in Saudi Arabia . He also
was a visiting professor in several Universities and academies like Nasser Military academy. From 1975 till 1979 he worked as the Cultural councillor for the Arab league delegation in the UN .
As I said the most famous work for Dr. Abdel Wahab was his controversial encyclopedia of Jews , Judaism and Zionism , the work that cost him 20 years from his life and also false of accusation of anti-Semitism and even sometimes his own personal safety. This book I believe is the most comprehensive encyclopedia written about Judaism and Zionism since I do not know when.
Already that some of you will think that because the author and researcher is a Muslim Egyptian ,he would be biased against the Jewish people , well think again because this encyclopedia is the most objective in my opinion about the Jews because he did not consider them the enemy. I mean you do not spend 20 years from your life writing such important reference in 8 big volumes with more than 3239 pages in an academic scientific way to promote a specific idea. Dr. Abdel Wahab wrote that book to find the truth and believe I read parts from this big reference I felt that this clear many myths about Jews , Judaism and Zionism . Every thing you can imagine about Jews is in this encyclopedia .
You want a proof , ok what about if I told you that he did not believe in the Protocols of elders of Zion” !!?? Dr. Abdel Wahab said in his book “The secret Hand : A Study in the violent and secret Jewish movements “ that it was based upon a brochure published in France in 1864 under the name of The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and
Montesquieu “You can read the original text whether in French or English here “
Dr. Abdel Wahab wrote also for Children nice Arabic stories. He began to write them in 1960s for his daughter.
He was a leftist still he defended Islam and Arab Nationalism like no other , in fact I believe he was more Islamist in his thinking in the last years.
Dr. Abdel Wahab was not only a researcher and expert in Israeli and Jewish stuff , he was also a great patriot man who fought dictatorship as much as he can.
He was from the people who stood against the regime in that last couple of year and when he died he was already the coordinator of Kafya , the famous Egyptian movement. It was enough to see him in the protests despite his old age and his illness. It was very sad scene to see the anti-riots officers surrounding him in the protests as if he were thug !!
This is a short bio for Dr. Al Messiri.
Here are something interesting short facts about him :
- He hates Barbie dolls and love chubby childish cotton dolls.
- The state refused to treat him on the expenses of the state in the U.S and he was treated on a Saudi Prince Expenses !!??
- He died at 5 AM Cairo local in Cairo at “Palestine Hospital”
I want to say in the end something that a person can die but his thoughts can live forever
Links :
- The official Website of Dr. Abdel Wahab Al Messiri
- His biography from the Arabic Wikipedia
- His article in Al Jazeera “The end of Israel” in year 2006
- His article in Al Ahram Weekly “Arabs, Muslims and the Nazi genocides of Jews” in 1998.
Through my early reading I always considered him an educated womanizer of his time working in the most prestigious and important places and positions in Egypt during the 1940s but when I began to watch the TV Series "King Farouk" on MBC this Ramadan I rediscovered that man in the same way he discovered the deserts of Egypt ,already he was my true discovery ,not King Farouk because already I know the reality of young King from a long time but I did not know who Ahmed Pasha Hassanein was except through that Series , sorry it made me want to discover that man
The Ladies Man .The Men's Man .The man of all town
Ahmed Pasha Hassanein was underestimated early in the history of Egypt regarding him only as the Chief of the
Royal Diwan and the Chamberlain of King Farouk who used to be womanizer ,allegedly married to his mother Queen Nazli and had an affair with Princess and Singer Asmahan "Amal Al-Atrash" and I think the revolution did not cause that underestimation ,already the man was killed in a terrible car accident that raised question marks in 1946 and he was hated by many politicians in that time not to mention some people said that the King did not like the relationship between his mother and his chief of Diwan who was his special tutor in London
This was the general idea I had for him before yet after watching the TV series and searching for more information about this man online and offline I found out the Egypt's earliest explorer was the most influential man in Egypt in 1940s , a politician for the first degree and the most trusted and influential person for Farouk.
That Man despite his claim that he did not understand anything in Politics proved to be a master in the political arena in front of huge gladiator from the weight of Mustafa Pasha El-Nahas and Ahmed Pasha Maher , yes he was not as
powerful and dangerous as Ali Pasha Maher but we should not forget that when Ali Pasha Maher was in his exile in Egypt during the WWII for being a Nazi ally ,Hassanein played a great role in saving both the King throne and the country in the famous crisis of 4th of February as Young King Farouk was going to sign the abdication document in order to the Save the Egyptian people with no fight yet clever Hasseinein saved the day ,if Farouk had signed that document , the British Commissioner Sir Miles Lampson would have chosen Prince Mohamed Ali who was a puppet in the hand of the British instead of him.
Hassanein was an extraordinary man ,it is rare to find a man who understands in culture ,in politics and in society in that way . You will be amazed already if you check his background , his grandfather was the last admiral for the Egyptian fleet in 18th century when the British invaded Egypt , his father was a Sheikh in Al-Azhar , he was born on the 31st of October 1889 in Boulaq which is a very popular area even till now , he started his education in Al-Azhar then he completed his education in Oxford University ,he was a champion in Fencing that he represented Oxford University once and Egypt twice in two Olympics in ,
when he returned to Egypt , he returned as a young explorer who went in exploration the Egyptian Western and Libyan desert in a time that where there were no GPRS or satellites phones or laptops or Jeep cars , no ,it takes a lot of courage even now to go to the middle of the desert. Hassanein Pasha was an Egyptian legend in exploration ,
already he was the first to write to the National geographic society in year 1923 , he also wrote a book about his explorations in the desert in the book " The lost Oases" which was translated in to Arabic,French and German. in That book Hassanein Pasha shared in a very attractive way his journey for 8 month trip full of perils on a camel from Egypt's Mediterranean coast west of Marsa Matrouh, heading for the oases of Siwa and Kufra and into the unknown reaches of the Libyan Desert. His perilous eight-month journey in 1923 took him around the western edges of the Great Sand Sea to El Obeid in the Sudan, a distance of 2200 miles, and lead him to the discovery of the lost oases of Arkenu and Uweinat at the extreme southwest corner of Egypt.Yes he was the first one to discover the Uweinat Oasis where he discovered rock drawings of animals, including lions, giraffes, ostriches, and gazelles. He was deep in the trackless desert, but what he had found was evidence of a flourishing human existence ten thousand years ago, and proof that the Sahara was once green, people we are talking here as I said in year 1923 ,the wonderful thing in that book was that Hassanein was also one hell of a photographer who documented his discoveries with photographs and illustrations .
He wrote an article to the National geographic in September 1924 about his discoveries with photographs , you can check it here
If you are no amazed yet wait and you will be amazed by this multi-talented man whom in 1930 tried to fly solo from London to Cairo yet unfortunately the plan was smashed in Pisa ,he was quite an adventurous
Despite his claim that he did not understand politics at all he worked in it since day one as He started his career as the Arab Secretary to the British Commanding Officer General Maxwell during the Great War 1914-1918 , he received the MBE for his valuable efforts for the diplomatic bridge he created between Britain and Egypt in 1927 yet that does not mean he was a traitor working for the invaders sake on the contrary ,years later Hassanein was the worst nightmare the British Commissioner had faced in his working years he worked also as the first secretary of Seif Allah
Yusri Pasha our first Ambassador to the United States.Then he returned to Egypt to work as an advisor to King Fouad and then a Chamberlain to the lands of Queen Nazli,after the most important phase in his life from my point of view started when he was sent with crown Farouk "16 yrs" to London as Tutor and there in those couple of years he formed a special bond with Future King Farouk ,I guess no one had it , he was more like father to the young man who suffered from a very lonely strict childhood ,yes he made mistakes in London but on the other hand he won the trust of the rebel teenager.Hassanein later became the head of the Royal Diwan , which is like the office of the President Now. Through his work as in the Royal Diwan he was the closet one to Farouk and he proved that as an advisor he was not looking for his interest but the country's and the King's Interests , it is enough to know that Sir Ahmed Hassanein Pasha was not that rich ,I mean the man did not use his position for profit and surely he did not have friends like Mamdouh Ismail and the whale of Nasr city "I am speaking the current Head of the President's Diwan"
In 1926 he married the Ambassador daughter Princess Latifa whose mother Princess Shivakiar ,yet the marriage did
not last thanks to his relationship with Queen Nazli who many said that he married secretly for couple of years from 1943 to 1946 ,during that time it was said that he was in love with Singer and Princess Amal Al-Atrash aka Asmahan , to tell you the truth no body knows whom he real loved from those ladies but I think he married Nazli only to keep her from scandals ,Nazli was mad about him and could not accept the truth that she was just a fling for him , in revenge she acted in a way that threatened her son's throne who was mad to see his mother setting in her Royal Suite with him at night where he was wearing his pajamas teaching her how to read the holy Quran "1" !!
His death proved to be tragic from all ways , it was the start of the down fall of Farouk , he died in Car accident by British military vehicle near Qasr El Nil Bridge in Cairo on 19th of February1946 , Queen Nazli went Crazy and thought that her son was behind it where as her son began his true fast trip to downfall , it started with the divorce of Farida in 1948 despite Hassanein's warnings , then the defeat of 1948 then the clashes with the Wafad cabinet ,the successive weak minority cabinets and the mother of all scandals and disasters The escape of Nazli and her daughter Fatahiah who married the Christian Riyad Ghali ,I think if he were alive things would be different but what can we say Fate is fate
By the way he was buried in a very elegant mausoleum across the Salah Salem road from the new seat of the Al-Azhar Imam if you are used to pass by Salah Sallam road every day you may recognize it ,here it is
By the way do you know how designed that Mausoleum ??
Legendary Egyptian Architect Hassan Fathy who was Ahmed's brother-in-law by marriage of his sister Aziza Hassanein. That man does not stop surprising you even in his death ,if you go there or pass by it please remember to read Fataha
By the way he had 4 children from Princess Latifa : 2 boys "One of them called Tarek and he died from some time" and 2 girls ,his grand daughter is called Ayaat Mahmoud
Why did I write this post about that man ?? well beside my admiration of his personality ,I love the fact that he was 100% Egyptian man raised in Boulaq and according to many he was down to earth
By the way do you know what is the secret of that man??
I think it has to do with his horoscope Sign ,Ahmed Pasha Hassanein was living example on dangerous,adventurous,diplomat and charming characteristic of the Scorpios
Sources:
1-Adel Thabat Book "Farouk and those who betrayed him"
2-The World of Ahmed Hassanein "Three images from it ", I don't want to suffer from their curse :)
I can't believe myself seriously , this is a treasure I found by accident , I don't know why on heaven and earth they did
not announce it more publicly
The Bibliotheca Alexandria opened a website that includes the magnificent encyclopedia of the Description of Egypt "Le Description de l' Egypte" online for free ,
The whole original book in French with the complete set of text and wonderful graphics about the history of Egypt
I believe some of you may not be familiar with "Le Description de l' Egypte" ,mes amis c'est un francais grand livre ,sorry my friends this was a great French book made by the scientists and researchers who came with Napoleon's expedition about modern and ancient Egypt
This book was the first in the modern age to describe Egypt whether its history ,its ancient history , we are talking here about the first nucleus of the Egyptology or its society , the society of that time , the French were very interested in the Egyptian life at that time when they came , it was like a new world to them
The Marvelous of the book was not in the detailed description only but the detailed illustrated description , there were no cameras but there were great artists who captured the tiniest thing you can imagine in this country with a sharp eyes
The customs and traditions, the buildings ,the people , the measurements of the buildings ,even the customs people wear across Egypt ,women,men and children
Till now these illustrations of that great book are used in post cards and in large painting they are fabulous
My late Grand father knew the man who had translated it from French to Arabic , late Zohair El-Shayeb , who had spent all his life to bring it to the Arabic reader, you will be surprised to know that he did it on his own without the help of the culture ministry, in fact he published it himself and even today his widow and daughters have their own publishing house , I forgot to say that the state did not honor this man except when he died I guess
anyhow this website is really great and you must visit it , of course the bad thing is that the text of the book is in French , well it is the original ,there is no direct translation
I want you to see the Plate volumes ,to see the wonderful illustrations
Anyhow here is the English translation of the book below the link , you must have this book ,I already got several editions from the Arabic translated books
Link to (¯`Description de l’Egypte Digital Collection`¯)
I am so so so sorry because in the previous posts I said that I did not find the Autobiography of President Mohamed Naguib in English in Amazon.com , well I was wrong and here is the book under the title
"Egypt's Destiny : A Personal statement by Mohamed Naguib"
here it is and yes I am making an ad for it because it deserves
I am sorry but I liked sir Isaac Newton more when he was the master of prior of Zion !!
At last I saw the movie itself legally already I was from the lucky people who put their hands on an original copy from
the Novel before its banning whether literally or cinematically in Egypt
I bought a pirate copy from the movie from few months in order to watch it , but to say the truth many things happened in life made me forget that there was a film CD over my shelf with that name till I found that it was going to be aired exclusively in the middle east through the Showtime network in its Pay for view Home cinema service and I just couldn't resist the temptation.
I won't speak about the novel or the plot but I will speak about the movie
I think it is good despite that there were some difference between the film script and the novel,some I understand why and some other I don't understand why like in the end that Sophie will discover that she is not the grand daughter of the Louvre Curator,also I don't understand why they neglect the surveillance room that French Police would find in Sir Leigh's Chateau !!
Silas is still my favorite character assassin and I think he is one of the most complicated assassin characters in
western literature
I love Audrey Tautoue ,seriously since Amilie and this sweet french girl is my favorite
Tom Hanks ,well I don't need to speak about him ,his name is enough ,by the way he is very popular in Egypt thanks to the master piece of Forest Gamp
In the end I think Ron Howard and Tom Hanks were right to go on for angels and demons to make a series its hero not a super macho Bond type man but a man of Science called Robert Langdon ,a cryptology professor who fears from closed places and a history policeman
A new book by Tolkien about the middle earth is to be published after 50 years , he had written the oldest and earliest version about the book before the LOTR during the WWII , then after finishing the LOTR he returned back and re-wrote again ,that time he greatly enlarged it in complexities of motive and characters . But he could not bring it to final and finished form. Yet Christophet Tolkien completed the unfinished work of his father and presented to the readers world wide as another saga from the middle earth
Already I am looking forward to put my hands on this book
Its events occur long before the time of the Hobbit Biblo Bagins great adventure when the Treebeard once walked in the great land of the west
The story is set in the the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West
In brief it is a first battle or encounter between good and evil , the good presented by the Children of Hurin and evil presented by the first Dark Lord Morgoth. The Children of Hurin are the elves which Morgoth bore their hate to the level of destroying them because they are the children of the same man Hurin who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face, and as a curse and a revenge Morgoth sends to his formidable servant, Glaurang, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire.
The illustraitions of the book are so great , they are drawn by Alan Lee who is famous for his work in LOTR and King Kong as conceptual artist and designer
- Link to Tolkien
- Watch the trailer of the book "oh yes ,well it is more like an ad in fact"
- Buy From Amazon.com
don't why I have the feeling that the article or the review is more about Tariq Ramadan more than the book. Already Tariq is very controversial from a very controversial family and I know that his opinions are causing lots of debate in the west.
He is very interesting personality but what about the book itself !!?? I don't think that it is fair review I am sorry
I think that from the review the book seems interesting giving the western reader the real facts about Prophet Mohamed "PBUH"
anyhow here is the link of Amazon.com about the Book "In the footsteps of the Prophet"
and below there is the link from the New York Times
Link to In the Footsteps of the Prophet - Tariq Ramadan - Books - Review - New York Times
You know Ramadan is not the first one to try to prove that the Islam is not a danger on the western democracy , Amr Khaled is doing so too but of course Ramadan is always under the spot light due to his grand father and controversial opinions
So the "Hobbits" can be reality after all
You know I wanted to talk about that discovery from a long time ,and I think I spoke about in my MSN Space sorry my Live Space
Really it is fantastic to know that Hobbits really lived on that earth from some time
I don't know really if Tolkien when he started writing about the "Hobbits" world in his masterpieces "Lord of the rings" and "The hobbit" knew that that they were real Hobbits living on this earth.
I believe he took his inspiration for the British legends as he worked as a linguistic ,so these legends may be referring to a specie the British Isles knew just like that island in Indonesia
After he was the man who said in his book
History becomes a legend , a legend becomes a myth
It seems to that Hobbits are not myth anymore they became a history
Link to BREITBART.COM - Researchers say 'Hobbit' skeleton was separate human species
I found this Website while browsing ,it looks wonderful and greet and classical titles there are wonderful titles for all genres and there is also language section,especially in French , well I know from my friends who like to read in French that it is hard to find novels in French but here you will find French novels
The great thing is that you can download the novels for different formats whether PDF or for PDA or For ipod or even psp
Link to manybooks.net - Free eBooks for your PDA, iPod, or eBook Reader
Go and spread the news :)
