Last week, the Syrian podcast “To Be Continued…” hosted a particularly intriguing guest. For the first time, Arabi TV’s affiliated podcast featured Dr. Hussein Al-Shar’a — the father of none other than Syria’s current President, Ahmed Al-Shar’a.
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| The Shar'as by Sora Open AI |
If you think his son, the former FBI’s most wanted man Abu Mohamed al-Golani, is a controversial figure, then you should meet his father: a veteran oil economist and researcher.
Today, Egypt is officially celebrating Wafaa al-Nil or the Nile Loyalty Festival.
If you think this is a newly invented holiday, think again. Wafaa al-Nil is one of the oldest festivals still celebrated in Egypt today, alongside Sham El-Nassim. In fact, it is among the country’s most ancient traditions—dating back over 7,000 years.
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| Hapi and the River Nile generated by Sora |
The ancient Egyptians linked the festival to the annual inundation of the Nile, which typically began in mid-July and peaked between mid-August and early September.
The date most often associated with it is August 15, when the floodwaters became clearly visible in Memphis (and later Cairo). The exact timing, however, depended on rainfall in Ethiopia.
Historical evidence traces the festival back as far as the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE), with inscriptions and temple reliefs depicting rituals dedicated to Hapi, the god of the Nile’s flood.
On this occasion, I’m sharing a couple of photos of Hapi from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Egypt bid farewell on Wednesday to the celebrated novelist Sonallah Ibrahim, who passed away after a long struggle with illness.
Ibrahim was one of the last surviving figures of the 1960s–1970s literary wave in Egypt and the Arab world. Born in Cairo in 1937 to Ibrahim Mahmoud, a leftist civil servant at the Ministry of Education, he was exposed early to progressive political thought.
Despite his father’s leftist convictions, Ibrahim was given a strikingly religious name. Mahmoud found the name “Sonallah” (“God’s creation” or “Allah’s made”) in the Holy Quran and chose it for his son—unaware that it would one day become truly unique in Egypt’s literary and cultural life.
Sonallah Ibrahim studied law at Cairo University, graduating in 1959—the same year he was arrested during a crackdown on leftists and imprisoned for more than five years under Nasser. Yet, when asked who his favourite president was, he still named Nasser—despite being critical of the Nasserist era and having spent much of it behind bars. I will never fully understand this complex bond between Nasser and Egypt’s leftist intelligentsia, especially writers and poets who endured his prisons.
After his release in 1964, Ibrahim briefly returned to journalism in Cairo before leaving Egypt to pursue work and writing abroad. He first spent time in Paris and then moved to East Berlin, where from 1968 to 1971 he worked as an editor for the Arabic service of the German Press Agency (ADN). Immersed in Europe’s leftist politics and intellectual ferment, he absorbed the radical spirit of the 1960s, which left a lasting mark on his worldview and literary style.
This is Anas Al-Sharif’s last message, last well, if you may say.
He prepared in case he was killed by the Israeli army after long months, days and hours of threats.
It was shared on his official social media account shortly after his assassination, along with 6 men, including 4 crew members from journalists, cameramen and their driver, in a direct targeting of their tent at Al-Shifaa Hospital early Monday morning.
The Israeli Occupation Forces did some as they are gearing up for a complete re-occupation of Gaza.
The names of those who were killed in this massacre were: Al-Jazeera reporters Anas Al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa as well as their driver Mohammed Noufal.
This is the whole Al-Jazeera Crew in North Gaza.
Among the other victims photographer, Mohamed El-Khaledi.
Either way, the coverage continues inshallah, as Al-Sharif said.
For 670 days, Anas Al-Sharif became that young voice of Gaza echoing in millions of houses in the Arab world and beyond. I got many emotions to the level that I feel that I can’t write anything now, but the least thing I can I share his last message.
This is its official translation into English:
“This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (Al-Majdal).
But Allah’s will came first, and His decree is final. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.
I entrust you with Palestine—the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace.
Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls. I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you.
Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.
I entrust you to take care of my family. I entrust you with my beloved daughter Sham, the light of my eyes, whom I never got the chance to watch grow up as I had dreamed.
I entrust you with my dear son Salah, whom I had wished to support and accompany throughout life until he grew strong enough to carry my burden and continue the mission. I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress and whose light guided my path.
I pray that Allah grants her strength and rewards her on my behalf with the best of rewards. I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah (Bayan), from whom the war separated me from for many long days and months.
Yet she remained faithful to our bond, steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend—patient, trusting in Allah, and carrying the responsibility in my absence with all her strength and faith. I urge you to stand by them, to be their support after Allah Almighty.
If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting.
O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family.
Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I kept my promise and never changed or betrayed it.
Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.
Anas Jamal Al-Sharif
06.04.2025”