I have no idea if the one who created me placed me among the good in paradise or the hideous in hell. A cup, a sweetheart, and a lute are cash enough for me and credit toward heaven for you. Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 94
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Uncategorized
“Smile” – Tamer Hosny and Shaggy’s Feel-Good Arabic Music Video
Egyptian singing star (“the King of Pop”) Tamer Hosny, a late convert to the Egyptian revolution, and Shaggy released this music video, entitled “Smile” a couple of months ago and it is still in ART’s Top Ten. Since the amount of Smiling, kindness and generosity that goes on every day in the Arab world is […]
Omar Khayyam (93)
I am a sinner, where is your acceptance? My heart is dark, where is your light and clarity? If you grant me paradise because of my obedience, that is just a salary. Where is your grace and charity? Translated by Juan Cole from [pdf] Whinfield 93
Advancing is Perfection (Gibran)
From Kahlil Gibran, “The Vision,” available at Amazon.com.
What We Lost in Iraq and Washington (Van Buren)
Peter van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com: Left Behind What We Lost in Iraq and Washington, 2009-2012 By Peter Van Buren People ask the question in various ways, sometimes hesitantly, often via a long digression, but my answer is always the same: no regrets. In some 24 years of government service, I experienced my share of […]
All Hell is still Breaking Loose in the Arab World, Television is just not Reporting it
5. Several center-left parties in Tunisia have formed a centrist party for the next election. The Progressive Democratic Party only got 16 seats in parliament, despite being a popular party, and it is determined to improve its electoral position. 4. Omar Suleiman, the former head of Egyptian military intelligence, has thrown his hat in the […]
Liberty without Thought: Kahlil Gibran
From Kahlil Gibran, “The Vision,” available at Amazon.com.
America’s new data center: The Biggest Big Brother of All (TBIJ)
From the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: In the small town of Bluffdale in the Utah desert, the US government is halfway to completing a gargantuan complex designed to store and trawl through billions of phone calls, emails, and other global communications. As the UK government reveals its own plans to carry out mass surveillance, a […]
Contemporary Coptic Icon of the Resurrection from Egypt (Wall Painting)
A contemporary Egyptian, Coptic Christian icon of the Resurrection by Adel Nassief: “1994 – The Resurrection – Holy Family Church – Bahir, Egypt” courtesy Adelnassief.net, /frescos For Coptic Christian paintings and icons, see Jimmy Dunn and the Coptic Network Picture Archive For the distinctive Coptic Egyptian ways of commemorating Easter, see “Celebrate Easter the Egyptian […]