A Prayer for Peace in Egypt

Today, let me take a break from blogging about Turkey to say a few words about the situation in Egypt. I am both fascinated and very worried by the news from Cairo, as are many around the world. Having traveled there just two years ago, I recognize some of the places pictured in the news and am heartsick at the violence as well as completely supportive of the right of the Egyptian people to revolt against a harsh and corrupt regime. I worry too about what will come next, and about whether the next government might be even worse.

For me the most arresting image of the past few days was of the human chain that surrounded the famed Egyptian Museum in Cairo to protect it from looters. The picture of those brave souls putting their lives at risk to save the priceless treasures in the building made me remember how proud the Egyptians are of their ancient heritage. I fervently hope that the minor looting within the museum is all the damage that it will suffer.

But the real treasures in Egypt, of course, are its people.  So let me share with you a picture I took of the exterior of that museum, snapped on a sunny day almost exactly two years ago today. I wonder where this little boy is now, whether he is safe and whether his parents are participating in the protests, and I wonder what will happen to him and his family.

This day, I invite you to join me in this Muslim prayer for peace:

In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other. If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things. Of the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say PEACE.