Egypt is in for a hard week. To take the edge off let’s enjoy Mina Nabil Ramzy’s slide show of nostalgia for Egypt in simpler times, set to the French/Egyptian singer Dalida’s 1979 hit, “Helwa Ya Baladi” (Egypt My Beautiful Country).

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor in the History Department at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page
© 2026 All Rights Reserved