The
hall was full… all of them were “crème de la crème” of the society including
some non-Egyptians amid an Egyptian majority… the session started and the
inviter started by introducing the speaker… the place was the house of the
Saudi Ambassador at Cairo… the ambassador was the late Dr. Hesham Nazer… the speaker
was Mr. Es-Sayed Yassin… the discussion was about the western cultural project…
Mr.
Yassin talked and then comments started to follow… there was a comment from Mr.
Farouq Shousha – may he rest in peace – who asked a more stating than exclaiming
question: “what is Mr. Yassin’s explanation for the collapse of the liberal
cultural project by the coup of July, 1952?”
Mr.
Shousha presented an almost explaining memo for his question, saying that July,
1952 did not produce figures like Al-Aqqad, Al-Rafei’e, Taha Hussien, Al-Mazni,
Az-Zayat and others… the question reminded me of my late friend Mr. Kamel
Zoheiri when he used to mock the presenter or interviewer who asks the question
and gives the answer with it… like “what do you think of the policy of our
caretaker wise government?”
As
to me, I felt nervous from Mr. Shousha’s question and was all set to reply…
especially that we were on a “land” that some may think does not like July,
1952 or its leader… however, the answer amazed me… and the ambassador’s comment
after this was even more amazing… Mr. Es-Sayed Yassin started his reply by
saying: first, July, 1952 was not a coup but a real revolution… second, there
was no liberal or non-liberal cultural project before July, 1952… actually, it
was a cultural atmosphere where some individuals shined like stars… as to the real
project of culture, it came with July, 1952 when the big starts were replaced
by thousands of creative people in literature and arts… cheap-in-price
rich-in-context books spread… base of education went wider… research centres
were established… and specialized magazines and in-depth periodicals grew.
Mr.
Yassin kept detailing his answer until he apologized for not answering any more
questions for time was over… after this, the inviter commented… Mr. Nazer said
that while he was a post-graduate student in Harvard University, a professor
asked the students to put the world countries in order according to power… that
was in 1959… the answers varied between those who put the US first and others
who listed the Soviet Union at the beginning…etc… however, Hesham Nazer put
Egypt at the top of the list and then the hall burst into laughing mocking his
reply… his professor asked him to give an explanation why he chose Egypt… the then-post-graduate
student said that he assumed the criterion to measure the power of any state is
its ability to achieve most, if not all, of its declared targets… and that he thought
Egypt, at that time, have achieved the targets it have declared; independence,
development and deep-rooted wide-spreading cultural and Arab unity… his
professor was astonished to the extent that he told him “this is gonna be your
thesis to get your degree”.
I
mentioned the inviter’s comment to pay your attention that Mr. Yassin’s answer,
that was shocking to the one who asked and to many of the audience who expected
a another reply… or even a vague one to avoid any embarrassment with the people
who invited him, encouraged the ambassador to tell this story that no one knew
anything about.
You
can say whatever you want about the knowledge, culture and the wealth of
information of Mr. Es-Sayed Yassin and his diligence to stay updated with the
latest creations of the human mind in the field of the social and humanitarian
sciences… but we really need to cherish the man’s courage in the stances he
adopted and his ability to acknowledge those who deserve… whether they were his
students, friends or even have no human relation with him… as the man did not
hesitate to call anyone to speak well of an article that one wrote, an interview
or a talk-show he took part in… in the same time, he did not hesitate to give
an unbiased critic for what deserves to be criticized…
It
is a big loss that Egypt lost a noble man like Mr. Es-Sayed Yassin.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on
March 20, 2017.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #es_sayed_yassin
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