Zahra Youssry EN.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T16:27:00.000+02:00

The 37th anniversary of Farid al-Atrash

2011-12-26T14:02:00.000+02:00

Sultan of the lute, prince of singing and my favorite singer from the old generation dead on 26 December 1974

Buy Egyptian 16-18 December 2011

2011-12-16T02:18:00.001+02:00

Naguib Mahfouz's Centenary

2011-12-11T22:49:00.001+02:00

11-11-2011 .. A Remarkable Date

2011-11-11T17:44:00.002+02:00

I think it will be a nice thing that we list what
happened on:

1-1-2001

2-2-2002

3-3-2003

4-4-2004

5-5-2005

6-6-2006

7-7-2007

8-8-2008

9-9-2009

10-10-2010

& what will happen on:

12-12-2012

You were born on 23 September. Well, Happy Birthday to all of us

2011-09-23T12:49:00.001+02:00

Palestinian Statehood Vote on 20 September 2011

2011-09-15T12:55:00.004+02:00

Palestine deserves a full membership in the United Nations.

Israel stole the land, but it will not steal the history.

http://www.palestineright.com/

The autumn at the doors

2011-09-01T12:26:00.003+02:00

Ramadan Kareem

2011-08-02T15:31:00.001+02:00

Writing and Publishing

2011-06-13T13:06:00.000+02:00

During my search in BlogSpot users' profiles, for Bloggers with an industry of Publishing, I noticed the Arabian users mix between publishing and writing.

A lot of Arabian writers, novelists, authors & poets chose publishing as their field, not writing. I don't know why!

Maybe because BlogSpot didn't put category of writing or literature in industry's options.

Difference between Novel, Novella & Novelette

2011-06-11T14:47:00.000+02:00

According to Wikipedia,

Novel: over 40,000 words.

Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words.

Novelette: 7,500 to 17,500 words.

Short Story: under 7,500 words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count

6-6-1967 (International Jerusalem Day)

2011-06-08T12:42:00.001+02:00

Quds Day... Tuesday 6-6-2011, the 44^th anniversary of Oriental Quds's Occupation by the Israelis after the Setback of 67.

On Saturday 11 June & Sunday 12 June 2011, Quds's Conference (human right, nation responsibility) will be hold at Amman, Jordan by Jordanian engineers' syndicate (committee of engineers for Quds) & Cultural Quds Forum.

http://www.jea.org.jo/

http://www.alqodsonline.net/conference/index.php

15 May 2011, the Third Palestinian Intifada

2011-05-15T13:15:00.002+02:00

Today 15-05-2011, 63 years passed since the cursed country the so-called (Israel) was established on the ruins of (Palestine) on 15 May 1948.

As a result of 1948's war, a deportation was happened with the Palestinians and the international atlases still write the name of (Israel) on Palestine's map.

After the successive Arabic revolutions this year, the Palestinian refugees (Diaspora) want to return to their deserted villages & towns.

http://www.3rdintifada.com/

The British Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T12:50:00.002+02:00

Today Friday 29 April 2011, prince of England (William Charles) & his beautiful bride (Kate Middleton) became husband & wife officially.

I hope their marriage doesn’t end like his parents' marriage... the crown prince (Charles) & the princess of hearts (Diana).

Happy Sham Al-Nessem today

2011-04-25T23:18:00.003+02:00

http://zahrayoussry-english.blogspot.com/2010/04/sham-el-nessim-day.html

Lovesickness

2011-04-02T23:45:00.003+02:00

This funny news was published today Saturday 2 April 2011 in the last page of Al-Ahram newspaper under title (Lovesickness... A Scientific Fact).

The news talks about a study from American University of Michigan by Professor Ethan Kross.

The study says: love-sickness & breakup-pain affect in the human body equally like the physical pains.

The brain doesn't distinguish between the physical pain & the emotional pain.

The Egyptian Constitution … Next Saturday 19 March 2011

2011-03-16T16:13:00.003+02:00

Libya needs today to a man like Omar Mukhtar .. Lion of the Desert

2011-02-22T15:48:00.003+02:00

Youssef Al Sebaie .. The Knight of Romance

2011-02-18T22:51:00.003+02:00

Today Friday 18 February 2011 is the 33^rd anniversary of Youssef Al-Sebaie's assassination.

He was an army officer, however he wrote the most famous & most beautiful romantic novels in the Arabic literature.

Many of his novels were transferred to movies, such as: I'm going away, between the ruins (remember me), a thing in my life, Nadia, my heart was returned back, love street and so on.

He got married of his cousin (Dawlat Taha Al-Sebaie) after long love story since the childhood. They had a son (Ismail) and a daughter (Bessa).

On 18 February 1978, two Arabs shot him in the lobby of Nicosia Hilton hotel in Cyprus because he visited Israel with the president Anwar El Sadat on 19 November 1977.

His assassination caused Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport and breakoff of relations between Egypt and Cyprus for many years.

Valentine’s Day & the Noble Prophetic Birth (Mawlid)

2011-02-14T22:10:00.000+02:00

Today 14 February is Love Day & tomorrow Tuesday 15 February 2011 is the prophet Muhammad's Hijri birthday, while his Gregorian birthday is 20 April 571 (elephant year).

Prayer & peace upon Muhammad, our great love!

Tunisia, then Egypt… Who's the next?!

2011-02-12T11:04:00.003+02:00

Friday of Anger in Egypt "The Last Pharaoh Must Go"

2011-02-03T20:01:00.001+02:00

Baharia Oases .. The Paradise of the Egyptian Western Desert

2011-01-14T00:36:00.002+02:00

The Church of the Two Saints at Alexandria "The Terrorism Has No Religion"

2011-01-01T17:26:00.002+02:00

Male Belly Dancers!!!

2010-12-11T20:03:00.003+02:00

A very strange phenomenon began to be widespread in some Egyptian nightclubs, in Cairo, Sharm El-Sheikh & Hurghada.

Males work as belly dancers!

I'm saying here males, not men, because they don't belong to the manhood in a thing.

Yes, most of them don't wear naked dancing suits, but they perform female movements.

Of course, I won't talk from an Islamic perspective because the dancing naturally is forbidden in Islam as for women or men equally, but I'm talking here about the human nature.

This phenomenon is against the nature of men. How can these males dance like the women in front of people? How are they husbands and fathers?

I think the male dancers in the famous American TV show So You Think You Can Dance are more respectable & serious because they perform Tap Dance, not a random dance.

To Be a Mother for the First Time

2010-11-10T15:56:00.003+02:00

On Sunday 24 October 2010, Allah gave me my first baby Mariam.

A new experience & a different feeling I cannot describe it.

Yes, it is a big responsibility, but it is a nice task to look after a tiny weak creature.

In the beginning, I was not enthusiastic much because:

1. I did not love the children in general before the marriage, only my nephews.

2. I was not ready to the pregnancy or qualified for bringing up a child, although I am 31 years old.

3. I was hoping to have a Natural Childbirth, but I had a Cesarean Section.

4. I was hoping to have a boy, but I had a girl. She is the first granddaughter & niece in our families.

But now, I think is Mariam the greatest novel I wrote in my life!

Today

2010-10-06T23:40:00.002+02:00

Today is the 37^th anniversary of 6 October war & the first anniversary of creating this blog

The 40th anniversary of Nasser

2010-09-28T16:27:00.005+03:00

Today, Tuesday 28 September 2010, 40 years passed since the immortal president Gamal Abdel Nasser left our world.

Although, I was born on 23 September 1979, 5 days before the 9^th anniversary of his death, but I'm still living on his glories.

A lot of Egyptians miss him. How much we need a man like him in these black days!

To his crystal spirit, I present this song:

I have an urgent letter to you – Singing: Om Kalthoum in Nasser's funeral, 1970

ISNB in Egypt

2010-09-26T11:08:00.001+03:00

The International Standard Book Number or ISNB is a number given to a book and often placed on the back cover to protect the book from the plagiarism & quotation. It guarantees the copyright for the author & the publisher because this number is unrepeated ever like the fingerprint!

By ISNB, you can verify your intellectual property, if someone plagiarized your ideas.

Locally in Egypt, beside ISNB, there is The Legal Deposition Number that is given to the books by The National Documents & Books House.

But as usual, getting this local number is a costly thing and takes long procedures.

After the digital or electronic publishing & eBooks became widespread on the internet, Digital Rights Management or DRM appeared.

Back to School in Egypt

2010-09-18T12:32:00.001+03:00

Ramadan Kareem

2010-08-11T23:36:00.002+02:00

Today, Wednesday 11 august 2010, Ramadan 1431 A.H. started.

Happy Ramadan for all Muslims around the world!

Fasting, hotness, moisture & pregnancy will make Ramadan this year is very difficult as for me, but Allah helps us always.

Print on demand (POD) in Egypt

2010-07-19T19:07:00.001+03:00

Simply, the service of Print/ publish on demand (POD) depends on uploading an eBook on a website and printing this eBook only when a reader demands a paper copy & pays its price beforehand.

Unfortunately, this service is still unavailable as for the Arabic books or the right-to-left writings.

Internationally, lulu.com is the most famous website offers POD, but in the Arabic world (22 Arabic countries), 3lsooot.com is nearly the only Arabic & Egyptian website which supports the Arabic books! It is the foundation of Arabic pen voice.

I know that one website only maybe is very enough, but unfortunately, 3lsooot.com doesn’t offer this service free like lulu.com! Therefore, I'm using the American website coyly!

Yes, the Egyptian website takes 30 USD as a fee of nomination for your book because it submits the book to publishers, not only to the readers!

This fee is illogical because the publishers maybe refuse your work & the readers maybe don't demand your book at all and in the end you will lose your money.

Likewise, the Egyptian story club takes 20 EGP as fees of participation in the annual literary contest, although the winning isn't guaranteed!

Both of them, fees of book's nomination & fees of participation in the literary contest, don't take into consideration the poor writers!

These fees are only for covering the costs of printing on demand or the annual financial prize. This is the only logical explanation!

To be a wife for a year

2010-07-17T16:05:00.001+03:00

Today, Saturday 17 July 2010 is the first anniversary of my marriage.

I confess that the first year of marriage is the most difficult year at all and sometimes it is the worst year in marriage, especially in the oriental societies, like Egypt!

In the eastern countries, there is no a big chance to study your life's partner well before the marriage. The only true chance to study him or her is during the first year of marriage itself!

As for the Arabic Muslim nations, there are not a lot of permissions during the engagement period, so you find yourself suddenly live with a stranger in one home and you are forced to acclimate with him and accept him as he is!

Yes, the divorce in Islam is very easy & is not very expensive like the divorce between the westerns, but there are a lot of traditions & thoughts which control us. These traditions are often stronger than the religion.

In the beginning, clashes must happen between two persons from two different families, different environments, different personalities (natures) & different houses. Naturally, you are very sad during the first months in marriage, but with the ends of the first year, you find yourself calmer & happier!

In the first feast of my marriage, I'm proud because I made an achievement & skipped the difficulties of marriage in the first year!

Soaad Hosny, the Cinderella of Arabic Screen

2010-06-21T11:25:00.002+03:00

On Thursday 21 June 2001, since nine years ago, the Egyptian multitalented artist Souad Hosni left us suddenly.

No one expected this bloody end for this comprehensive artist, who was an actress, singer, belly-dancer and show maker because she was very beautiful, laugher, vital & optimistic.

She fell down from Stewart Tower in London, England, as she was living in the apartment of her close friend Nadia Youssry.

Until now, Scotland Yard could not define if it was a suicide or a murder by Nadia Youssry!

The some said it was a suicide because Soaad Hosny was very ill & became very fat in the last years of her life and the other some said it was a homicide because Soaad Hosny decided to write her diary & scandal famous Egyptian politicians.

The sister of moon, as she was called, died on Abdel Halim Hafez's Birthday!

Officially, she married four times & had no children. The some says that she married a fifth time from Abdel Halim Hafez secretly because both of them were afraid to lose their fans, but there is no any official document confirms this marriage!

But the strongest opinion that they were in love together only & didn't marry at all!

The Building of the Ghosts!!!

2010-06-12T21:49:00.002+03:00

None in Alexandria doesn’t know the building No. 412 in Rushdie district or the house of the ghosts.

This old building which locates on Abu Qir Street (Liberty Road), one of the main streets in Alexandria, and locates in Rushdie district, one of the highest districts in Alex, this building has a very strange story & a true tragedy.

If you passed by it, you will find it very dark even in the noon. The sun doesn't enter it at all and the exhausts of the cars during 50 years made it black & dirty.

The building of Rushdie was built in 1961. Some people say it was built by a Greek man called Bardees who died drowned with his five children in a boat during a fishing trip & his wife sold the house, then she returned to Greece forever and the Egyptian woods' trader Mohsen Bey (the buyer) took an accounting office for himself in the entrance & rented the other apartments:

1. The first floor: Mr. Zareef died burned & his family deserted the apartment.

2. The second floor: a doctor established his clinic, and before opening the clinic, a car killed the doctor while he was crossing the street.

3. The third & the fours floor: a foreign company became bankrupt & its boss committed suicide.

But other people say the house was built by an Egyptian man. In the beginning, he intended to build a mosque, but he built this house. So, the curse inhabited this place forever & the owner died paralyzed & sorry for his deserted project.

Some people say it was built actually as an apartment building & other people say it was built as a hotel. No one knows the true.

The sheikhs read the Holy Koran in the building to exorcise the ghosts & the bad spirits, but without a result.

The building contractors tried to destroy the building, but the buckets of the loaders were broken.

In the end, the police was forced to block the entrance by the bricks & they left the garage works till today. And for that reason, some people see it's just a rumor because there is a conflict between the heirs and those people ask why the ghosts didn't live in the garage also?!

But if these were just rumors really, why no one could to continue in the building till now?!

I thought to write a novel about this building like The Yacoubian Building novel by Dr. Alaa Al Aswany, but I'm not interested in the world of the ghosts.

So, if you are fond of this world, you can write a horror novel!

Faten Hamama 79th Birthday

2010-05-27T11:13:00.001+03:00

Today, Thursday 27 may 2010, the lady of the Arabic screen Faten Hamama completed her 79^th year.

She isn't just a star from the golden era of the Egyptian cinema; she was, is & will be a mark in the whole Egyptian history.

Happy Birthday to Faten Hamama!

Internet Forums Statistics

2010-05-10T23:50:00.003+03:00

The statistics of internet forums are often:

Number of threads

Number of posts

Number of members

Number of currently active (available/ online) users (members & guests/ visitors)

Most users ever online

Number of blogs & entries

The question now to who is expert in the forums: is this counter changeable?! Is it possible to counterfeit these statistics?! How can we differentiate between the true forums & the false forums?! And why memberships' serial numbers are always bigger than true members' numbers?!

What's the better?! To join to a forum of numerous members or to create your personal forum & you are sure of the true number of members?!

Yes, the personal forum enables you to:

1. Upload attachments of any size/ type

2. Control in members

3. Create the departments which you want

But supervising & formatting a personal forum needs to an unoccupied person... Isn't it so?!

I need your opinion please!

The literary contests in Egypt

2010-04-19T14:41:00.001+02:00

Unfortunately, the most of literary contests in Egypt, especially novel contests, don't enjoy the impartiality or credibility or fairness.

For example, the annual prize of story club… it's supposed to be the most famous & important literary contest in Egypt, however:

The contest of 2008 is announced in 2009 & the contest of 2009 is announced in 2010 & so on!!! Moreover, the contest of the current year is announced in middle of the next year, not even in beginning of the next year!!!

The winners are often old people & published authors or writers known by the arbitration committee. The young people, new talents & unknown unpublished writers rarely take their chance in this award!!!

The time of submitting the participating works is very short (often less than one month only), and also the time of announcing the results is very short (through few months). So, undoubtedly, the results are known beforehand.

The advertisement of contest is published annually in very small space in the newspapers & it's not published in the first page or a marked place. And therefore, it's invisible to a lot of people. There's no fixed date for publishing this AD, every year it is published on a different day from a different month.

The conditions of contest are very floating. The story club doesn’t unite the specifications of manuscript novels. The professional contests stipulate one paper size (A4 for example), four equal page margins, one font type & style, one font size, one line spacing. While, the four useless conditions of this contest every year are: (1) the novel must not be less than 50 pages foolscap & three copies are submitted, (2) the novel must not be introduced to another contest currently or in the past, (3) the contestant must not be a member in the club, (4) the contestant must not be a winner in the last two years.

The financial awards of this contest are very little. The first winner takes 2000 Egyptian pounds only, the second takes 1500 EP & the third takes 1000 EP!!! Beside, there are taxes about 12 % even on the prizes in Egypt!!! The three winners take also appreciation certificates, but the first winner only can take the membership of club & his/her novel is published in the silver book series of the story club.

The club is open three days only in the week & for six hours only (7 pm to 9 pm on Saturday, Monday & Wednesday). The headquarters & only branch is in the capital (Cairo). The inhabitants of Cairo, Alexandria, the Delta & Lower North Egypt can arrive to the club & submit their works before the deadline, but The inhabitants of far places (such as Upper South Egypt, Sinai & the Oases) are forced to send their works in a package by express mail & it's very expensive, instead of traveling for hundreds of kilometers.

The club has no an independent place. It's an apartment in very old big building. You will pass across a lot of corridors to arrive to it. The staff is very old people, the boss of club, the members, the secretary & the office boy. If you rang the door bell or called by telephone, you must wait for long minutes until somebody answers you. A lot of people think that there's no body there & they lose the connection with the club.

http://www.egstoryclub.com/index.php?lang=en

Sham el-Nessim Day

2010-04-05T21:43:00.002+02:00

Literally, it means Smelling the Breeze (Zephyr). In general, it's Spring Day in Egypt & an official vacation in the whole country.

Every year, the oriental church defines it on any Monday since the beginning of April till the beginning of May according to the Coptic calendar. However, Muslim Egyptians celebrate it like Christians exactly, because it's also an ancient Egyptian feast since the days of pharaohs.

The breakfast is colored boiled eggs and the lunch is smoked or salted fish or sardine & green onion. As Christians don't eat fish during their Lent (55 days) & finish their great fasting on the day before that day or Easter.

The 33rd anniversary of Abdel Halim Hafez

2010-03-30T21:37:00.004+02:00

On 30 March 1977, Halim died while he was 47 years old. The Dark Nightingale was one of the most famous Egyptian singers & actors in Egypt & the Arabic world.

The triangle of orphanage, lovesickness & illness made Abd El-Halim a very creative artist.

His mother died after few hours only from his birth, and then his father died also before Halim completes his first year!!!

He fell in love only one time in his life & had never been married.

She was a very rich young woman. He met her by chance in Alexandria & loved her at first sight. She was so beautiful & has blue eyes, but she was married & has two children. This unknown woman who was called (Dawlat) or (Dede) left her family to marry Abd El-Halim, and before their marriage, she died suddenly by brain cancer.

Abd El-Halim was a very reticent person, so nobody saw this woman at all, even his closest friends, except his own driver. However, he sang his saddest & most pessimistic songs to her memory.

In London, he died by Esophageal Varices & returned to Cairo in a box between luggages inside an airplane!!!

His funeral was third of most popular funerals in Egypt, after funeral of Nasser in 1970 & funeral of Om Kalthoum in 1975.

A lot of girls & women committed suicide on hearing of his death!!!

His apartment & tomb are still receiving thousands of visitors till today.

Ahmed Zaki… the black tiger

2010-03-27T13:17:00.001+02:00

Today 27 March 2010, five years passed since Ahmed Zaki left us. He was not just a favorite actor by the Egyptians, but he was a genius talent will not be repeated easily. He could play all roles & characters creatively.

Although he was not a handsome or muscular, but he was so attractive. He succeeded to win hearts of many Egyptian actresses & millions of fans.

This black star that defeated a lot of difficult challenges in the beginning of his life, but in the end, lung cancer defeated him while he was 55 years old because he was a very gluttony smoker.

The French doctor, who came from France especially to examine Ahmed Zaki, arrived to Cairo on the same day of death & he attended his funeral!!!

Ahmed Zaki could act 90 % of his final movie (Halim), and then he slept in a very deep coma. So, his only son (Haitham) completed the movie. Halim is the biography of Abdel Halim Hafez who lived & died in similar conditions to Zaki himself!!!

Mother's Day in Egypt

2010-03-21T13:29:00.001+02:00

The international Mother's Day is on the second Sunday of May from every year.

In Egypt, today 21 March is Mother's Day & Orphan's Day is on the first Friday of April from every year.

Happy Mother's day to Mama & to all the mothers!

Alexandrina International Book Fair No. 8

2010-02-25T12:46:00.000+02:00

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is organizing its 8^th Alexandrina International Book Fair from 25 February to 14 March 2010.

The guest of honor this year will be "French and Mauritanian Books".

http://www.bibalex.org/English/bookfair.htm

Happy Valentine's Day to the Christians!

2010-02-14T12:41:00.002+02:00

If we –as Muslims- wanted to celebrate this day, we should celebrate the day itself or celebrate the symbol of love, not celebrate the saint Valentine.

In this connection, I wonder at who says to me: don't be sad if you didn't marry who you love, because maybe he wasn't a good person!!!

Ok, I'm ready to marry him, even if he was the worst person in the world.

This is the difference of love!!! But it is the will of Allah.

The 35th anniversary of Om Kalthoum

2010-02-03T23:14:00.004+02:00

On 3 February 1975, the lady of Arabic singing & the planet of orient Om Kalthoum the Egyptian superstar left our world to sing in the sky.

She was circa 76 years old because her birthday is unknown exactly!!!

Although, I was born in 1979 after her death, but a lot of Egyptian youth & I are still enjoying her many songs. She is a unique phenomenon.

The Third Cup Successively & the Seventh in Championship History!

2010-02-01T00:36:00.005+02:00

1. The Best Player in This Championship Egyptian!

2. The Best Goalkeeper in This Championship Egyptian!

3. The Best Scorer in This Championship Egyptian!

4. The Prize (Cup) of Clean Playing for Egyptian!

5. The Title of the Best Coach for Egyptian!

6. We were not defeated in any match in this Tournament

7. We defeated all the teams which are participants in the next World Cup!!!

Yes! We are the Egyptians! Viva Egypt!

What a Great Country & what a Great Nation!!!

Congratulations the Revenge from Algeria!

2010-01-29T23:27:00.001+02:00

Yesterday, Thursday 28 January 2010, at 9:30 pm (Egypt Time) the Egyptian team of football took our revenge for the tragic match of Wednesday 18 November 2009 in Sudan.

Yesterday, our national team defeated the Algerian team 4-0 in Angola & three Algerian players (including the goalkeeper) were fired from the playground during the match!!! They took red cards at once.

Even if we were defeated by Ghana the next Sunday (the final match), it is so enough the winning of yesterday.

We didn't scandal the Algerians… they who undressed themselves by themselves in front of the whole world. They verified that they are a very barbaric nation.

Cairo International Book Fair No. 42

2010-01-28T18:56:00.002+02:00

Today, Thursday 28 January 2010 CIBF was opened officially by the president of republic & tomorrow Friday 29 January, it will be open for the people.

It is continuous for two weeks. It will be closed on Saturday 13 February.

Neturei Karta International (Jews United Against Zionism & Israel)

2010-01-21T16:05:00.005+02:00

I tried to contact the Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, & nkusa.org told me that he has no an email address, a blog or a website & he is not on computer at all.

They gave me his phone number, but I want to greet him from here for his noticeable activity against Zionism & Israel.

I watched him since a while in a TV program on the Egyptian satellite (Nile Sat.). He was a very good spokesman.

The Difference between the Novel and the Fiction

2010-01-17T17:49:00.000+02:00

According to Wikipedia,

The fiction is a branch of literature which deals, in part or in whole, with temporally contra-factual events (events that are not true at the time of writing).

There are also the definitions of non-fiction & semi-fiction in Wikipedia.

The novel is a long narrative in literary prose.

According to English-to-Arabic dictionary,

The fiction is a short story, a novel, a novelette (novella), a tale, a narrative, children's book or story, but it must be an imagination or a fantasy (fable, myth, legend).

The novel is a long story only. Maybe it is a fiction, maybe it is a true.

If anyone knows other definitions, please he tells us.

Stop the wall between Egypt & Palestine

2010-01-07T11:53:00.000+02:00

To the last pharaoh, to our Egyptian stubborn president Muhammad Hosni Mubarak: Who gave you the right to build an underground metal barrier on the eastern borders of Egypt?!

Who gave you the permission to separate between the Egyptians & the Palestinians?! USA, Israel or yourself!!!

You wanted really to block tunnels used to smuggle weapons into the Palestinian land or you wanted to leave the Palestinians as a prey for the Israelis!!!

Please, our aged president: don't isolate our brothers from us!

2010 & 1431

2010-01-01T11:58:00.001+02:00

Happy New Year

Today 2010 started & before two weeks ago exactly on Friday 18-12-2009 the new Islamic year 1431 started.

1430 years passed since the great migration (Hijra) of our prophet & messenger Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (the light city).

Muhammad & his close friend Abu Bakr As-Siddiq emigrated at night & were hidden for three days in a cave in the mountain.

When the unbelievers arrived to the cave, they thought that the cave is empty & went without killing Muhammad & Abu Bakr!!

As there was a spider weaved a web closed the entrance of cave & two doves built a nest & laid eggs in front of the cave.

If one of the conspirators looked under his feet, he would see the two men, but this didn't happen & the two friends reached Medina safe. And from The Light City, the message of Muhammad arrived to the whole world & the Islam became spread till now.

The First Chapters of My Novels on Scribd.Com:

2009-12-28T23:12:00.002+02:00

All of them in Arabic Language:

The first chapter from "Be luckier than us"

The first chapter from "Qenawy ollas"

The first chapter from "Memories in the corridor"

The first chapter from "My heart is zigzag"

The first chapter from "Made in Egypt"

The first chapter from "Messages to Allah"

The first chapter from "A hole in my heart"

The first chapter from "Reda"

The first chapter from "Chechnya"

The first chapter from "Cabin no. 9"

The first chapter from "America Brunei Egypt"

The first chapter from "Foreigner, but!!!"

The first chapter from "12 Circassian roosters"

The first chapter from "A Somali pirate"

Sufi Literature & Sufi Novel

2009-12-08T10:49:00.002+02:00

In the websites, there is focusing on the Persian (Iranian) and Indian Sufi literature only, although the Arabic Sufi literature is very rich also.

So, I hope from International League of Islamic Literature or www.adabislami.org to create an annual prize especially for the Arabic Sufi fiction.

The Ban on Construction of New Minarets in Switzerland

2009-12-06T12:38:00.002+02:00

Although my blog this mainly interests in literature & writing, but any cultured human can't ignore the current political events, especially if he was a Muslim because the true & good Muslim doesn’t separate between the religion and the policy. Any other religion is a part of life, but the Islam is the whole life. It enters in all details of our daily life.

So, I'm as a religious Muslim, not a Secular Muslim, I was not surprised when Switzerland banned on 29 November 2009 the construction of new minarets for mosques, while it allows with the towers & bells of churches!!!

I didn't feel angry because I realize well that the conception of freedom in the most of European countries is unbalanced & the scales of justice in these countries are not equal.

They criticize our Islamic headscarf, while they clap the hands for the nuns who wear the same headscarf. It is the Swiss freedom!!!

Standing on Arafat Mountain

2009-11-26T12:07:00.003+02:00

To who doesn't know; Arafat is a mountain in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Like every year, today 26-11-2009, millions of Muslims from all nationalities stand on Arafat from the daybreak till the sunset, according to the rites of Islamic pilgrimage.

Of course Arafat day belongs to the lunar year or the Islamic calendar, so it returns 11 days every solar year. The next year, it will be mostly on 15-11-2010.

Arafat day is one of the most important days as for the Muslims & the best day the sun rose on it. It's the day before the Muslims' Greater Bairam.

Tomorrow, on the Muslims' Major Feast or the Feast of Immolation (Sacrifice), all the Muslims around the world will butcher millions of sheep, goats, cows & other on. They do that like the Prophets' Father Ibrahim who would slaughter his son the prophet Ismail as he saw in the dream, but at the last moment, Allah ransomed Ismail with a great ram.

Boycott Algeria till they apologize officially, The dream of 80 million Egyptian

2009-11-20T23:04:00.006+02:00

I don't invite to boycott

Algeria

for ever; I'm against that any Islamic Arabic country boycotts its sister whatever happened between them. However, Egypt must boycott

Algeria

till it apologizes.

That the Algerians carry knifes & swords in a football match, that is a usual behavior!!!

That the Algerians throw the Egyptians by stones, smash the Egyptians' buses & cars by rubble in Sudan on 18-11-2009, although they were the winners, that are expected things!!!

That the Algerians abuse the Egyptian women, crash the Egyptian buildings & foundations in Sudan, that are not new things!!!

That the Algerians chase the Egyptians till the airport of Sudan, that is an understood thing!!!

But the not acceptable thing, that the Algerians burn the Egyptian flag, trample it by their shoes and pass above it many times by their cars back & forth!!! As if it was the Israeli flag!!!

So, it is a duty for every Egyptian to boycott every Algerian, till the Algerian president by himself apologizes to Egypt & the Egyptians.

To all the Algerians, it seems that you forgot what Egypt & Gamal Abdel Nasser did for you until you take your independence from France in 1962!!! You forgot the Arabism & the Islam!!!

To all the Egyptians, you proved that you are a very civilized nation. But the civilization doesn't mean the forgiveness in the rights!!!

Important events this week:

2009-11-15T21:26:00.003+02:00

Tuesday 10 November 2009:

Opening of Cairo International Film Festival no. 33, it is continuous till Friday 20-11-2009

Wednesday 11 November 2009:

1. Opening of Cairo Arab Media Festival no. 15, it finished Sunday 15-11-2009

2. The fifth anniversary of the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat death

3. Alex Wiens was found guilty of the murder of Marwa El-Sherbini and sentenced to life imprisonment

4. The shining star Leonardo Dicaprio birthday no. 35

Saturday 14 November 2009:

The football match between Egypt & Algeria in Cairo International Stadium, for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. Egypt won 2-0 & there will be a final match in Sudan on the next Wednesday 18-11-2009

The Madman of Layla:

2009-11-05T11:48:00.000+02:00

One of the most beautiful love poetries, that which was said by the sheikh Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili about the Manic of Layla:

The madman saw a wolf in the desert

He dragged a tail from the charity for it

The people blamed him for what came out from him

And they said: you made the wolf obtain a great obtainment

He said: let the blame, my eyes saw it once nearby

Layla's house!!!

رأى المجنون فى البيداء ذئباً *** فجر له من الإحسان ذيلاً

فلاموه على ما كان منه *** و قالوا قد أنلت الذئب نيلاً

فقال : دعوا الملامة أن عينى *** رأته مرة فى حى ليلى !!!

I translated it a semi-literal translation, to let you taste the words of the Arabic love.

Love Day in Egypt

2009-11-04T01:33:00.006+02:00

4 November is love day in Egypt; of course it is different from 14 February or Valentine's Day.

4 November this year 2009 is the 87^th anniversary of discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter, that very famous tomb no. 62 in the Valley of the Kings or KV62 at the west bank, Luxor.

62 is the last number in VK, as the 62^nd tombs took their serial numbers according to the sequence of their discoveries. So, KV62 is the last tomb was discovered in the royal valley.

On 4 November 1922, when Howard Carter found this tomb, he was charmed & asked himself: if all these treasures exist in a tomb of 18 years old king, so what is about tombs of the old pharaohs?!

Carter couldn't answer this question until he died after 17 years from this historical discovery.

The pain in the writer's life

2009-11-01T22:38:00.000+02:00

The writer, who suffered from a lot of unsuccessful love stories, is creative more than the others.

Except for the lovesickness, the novelist didn't become a creator. That is because he realizes in his novels & fertile imagination what he failed to realize in fact!

Maybe, we meet in the paradise who we couldn't meet in life.

Briefly, the pain makes the miracles.

Mustafa Mahmud

2009-10-31T21:56:00.002+02:00

Today Saturday 31-10-2009 at 7:30 am Dr. Mustafa Mahmud died.

He was one of the most famous & important Egyptian scientists in the current time. And his famous TV program (the science & the faith) was one of our favorite programs when we were young children.

May Allah have mercy upon him!

Marwa El-Sherbini – The Martyr of Veil

2009-10-26T16:49:00.004+02:00

Today, Monday 26 October 2009 is judgment of Marwa's killer in the court of Dresden, Germany.

Marwa El-Sherbini (32 years old) was an Egyptian pharmacist from my city (Alexandria), but she was studying & living with her husband & young child in (Germany).

On 1 July 2009, a Russian-German racialist called (Alex W) suffers from Islamophobia, killed (Marwa) in the courtroom by a knife, while she was a pregnant with her second child, because she wears the Islamic headscarf!!! So, he killed two spirits.

Dear Marwa, we will never forget you!

http://www.marwaelsherbiny.com/

Today & Ramesses II

2009-10-22T20:58:00.000+02:00

Every year on 22 October & 22 February, the rays of the sun fall down vertically on the face of king Ramesses II inside his temple in Abu simple, twice every year… in his birthday & Coronation day. Thousands of tourists come to watch this immortal moment in the early morning! It's the miracle of the ancient Egyptians!

Top 100 universities in the world

2009-10-17T10:56:00.001+02:00

A lot of people are angry because list of the best 100 universities in the world doesn't include any Arabic or Egyptian university. This is an expected thing as long as a lot of westerners are still thinking that we ride the camels & live in tents!!!

A light spot, don't be angry because one of the foolish American actors called his dog (Sadat), the name of the Egyptian ex-president, as an Iraqi journalist threw (Bush), the American ex-president, by shoes!!! So, an eye for an eye!

The Egyptian belly-dancers in USA!!!

2009-10-15T20:17:00.000+02:00

During the search on the internet, I found by chance a lot of Egyptian belly-dance schools in USA!!! I was surprised that many Egyptian belly-dancers live in the United States to teach the Americans this art!!!

Are these women our cultural attachés abroad?! Why there are no schools teach the Arabic literature?!

The Egyptian minister of culture

2009-10-13T15:01:00.000+02:00

Unfortunately, the Egyptian media gave an impression that the Egyptians are depressed because Farouk Hosny, the Egyptian minister of culture, failed to be the general manager of UNESCO on September 22, 2009!!!

No one in Egypt is sad for that, except Farouk Hosny himself!!!

Mr. Farouk is 71 years old & he is a minister of culture since 1987 (22 years ago)!!!

He has a lot of strange announcements which provoked the Egyptian street. So, what will this aged minister does in the UNESCO?!

On the light side, today 13^thof October, 2009; on this day in 1988, the international Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz won the prize of Nobel in literature.

Although, I disagree with the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, but I can't deny that he was one of the most magnificent writers of Egypt & the Arabic world.

The twelve women who won Nobel Prize in Literature:

2009-10-12T16:48:00.002+02:00

Serial	Name	Country	Year	Age in that year
1	Selma Lagerlöf	Sweden	1909	51
2	Grazia Deledda	Italy	1926	55
3	Sigrid Undset	Norway	1928	46
4	Pearl S. Buck	USA	1938	46
5	Gabriela Mistral	Chile	1945	56
6	Nelly Sachs (with an Israeli man)	Sweden	1966	75
7	Nadine Gordimer	South Africa	1991	68
8	Toni Morrison	USA	1993	62
9	Wisława Szymborska	Poland	1996	73
10	Elfriede Jelinek	Austria	2004	58
11	Doris Lessing	UK	2007	88
12	Herta Müller	Germany	2009	56

Why did not get this prize any woman under age 40?!

Why did not get this prize any Arabic or Muslim woman?!

Why did not get this prize any famous woman or who has bestselling novels?!

These are just questions!!!

Two women & two prizes

2009-10-11T17:12:00.001+02:00

It is an object of pride that two women won the most important two prizes this year, as the German Herta Müller (56 years old) was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature for her last novel (Everything I Possess I Carry With Me), while the English Hilary Mantel (57 years old) was awarded the 2009 Man Booker prize for her novel (Wolf Hall).

On the other hand, the Egyptian story club announced the 2008 prizes of novel on September 28, 2009 and as usual no female won!!!

A candle in the darkness:

2009-10-09T23:14:00.001+02:00

All of us failed in love, so when you feel sad, write & write.

Self-realization is the way of happiness. Belief in Allah & our second life after death are the true happiness.

Fame & money don't continue, so if you got them, be satisfied & don't be very happy. If you became famous, please be modest because you are created from dust!!!

Publishing in Egypt

2009-10-08T14:15:00.003+02:00

Nowadays, the paper publishing in Egypt is almost nonexistent. It is nearly limited to those who have money or authority. As for the talents who have no enough money, they must use the digital or electronic publishing only.

After a lot of letters & emails to deaf-mute publishers for 15 years, in the end I resorted to the service of POD "print/ publish on demand" on lulu.com; although these sites don't support the Arabic language!!

Finally, I realized that the time of writing must stop a little & you must make propaganda for yourself by yourself. Don't wait for help from anybody.

Why am I here?

2009-10-08T13:18:00.001+02:00

Reaching to the Internationality is the dream of any artist or writer; however I didn't create an English blog to realize that dream, but for interaction with other readers from different nationalities by the first worldwide language or English.

Maybe I hope the international success, but sure I am afraid of the fame around the world, because whatever the popularity lasted for years after your death, people will forget you even after many centuries!!

Introduction

2009-10-07T15:17:00.006+02:00

It was just a chance that I created this blog on the 36^th anniversary of October 6. 6^thof October day maybe doesn't mean a lot for the world, but it means a lot as for us... the Egyptians.

6^th of October was the most important victory in our life. After it, we didn't achieve a lot of victories. The nearest example that we lost the match against Costa Rica on October 6, this year in FIFA U-20 World Cup!!!

Who is Zahra Youssry?

2009-10-06T19:46:00.000+02:00

An Egyptian novelist, she was born on 23rd of September 1979 (30 years old) in Alexandria, Egypt & she lives there.

Until now, she wrote 13 novels in her mother tongue (Arabic language) & although they are not published in books, however Zahra has a lot of readers & fans on the internet.

List of Zahra's works:

Novel "be luckier than us" in 1994,

Novel "Qenawy ollas" in 1995-1996,

Novel "memories in the corridor" in 1996-1997,

Novel "my heart is zigzag" in 1998,

Novel "made in Egypt" in 1999-2000,

Novel "messages to Allah" in 2001-2002,

Novel "a hole in my heart" in 2003,

Novel "Reda" in 2005,

Novel "Chechnya" in 2007,

Novel "cabin no. 9" in 2008,

Novel "America Brunei Egypt" in 2008,

Novel "foreigner, but!!!" in 2008,

Novel "12 Circassian roosters" in 2009

The last novel is sold on lulu.com & there is a group called 12 Circassian roosters on facebook.com

And what is worth mentioning that there is a contemporary Egyptian poet holds the same name Zahra Yusri, but the latter was born in 1974 (35 years old) in Cairo city.

Zahra Youssry has a blog in Arabic language holds her name on blogspot.com & has her own page on facebook.com