The Dreams

Dream 174

Debating with me, my friend declared, “The Egyptian, by nature, is either a peasant or a craftsman. As for progress in administration or politics,” he insisted, “that is best left to foreigners or naturalized Egyptians.”

“Nature has nothing to do with this,” I told him. “But the foreigners and those who have taken our nationality shared the power and the money and created a vacuum of creativity. Then the situation changed when the native Egyptian participated in the revolution against the French occupation, and then against the British as well, and pledged his allegiance to Urabi, Sa’d Zaghlul, and Gamal Abd al-Nasser.

“Next,” I said in conclusion, “he began to take part in running the country — and his creativity soared in every realm of life!”