Bassem Sabry

Asalamu Alaykom,

From God we come and to God we return.


Yes, it's another person dying.  People never actually stop dying.  They are ALWAYS dying; we just don't know all their different names.  I know the name of Bassem Sabry and I want you to know him too.

You can read his blog, "An Arab Citizen."

You can read his tweets here.

I knew him from Twitter.  We had a friendly on-line communication from the very first week I joined.  He was welcoming from the start.  We tended to find the same things funny or meaningful.

He would take these breaks from Twitter.  I missed him.  I missed him because I don't really have friends here.  If he was gone too long, I'd check on him.  I would always welcome him back.  He became a kind of a friend.  He called us, "post-modern friends."  I was OK with that.

It wasn't that we were in constant communication; it was that I knew he would be there.  It's been hard to live in Egypt and not to have a network of people I can connect with on any meaningful level.  Bassem Sabry helped me to feel not so alone in an increasingly strange place.

I think I helped him too.

Louisa Loveluck@leloveluck Interested to know which blogs people visit most for #Egyptcoverage. Thoughts appreciated. - 25 Oct More Tweets Yosra@AfterHardship @leloveluck Twitter is for daily jolts of news. Blogs are for synthesizing WTH is going on. I read @Sarahcarr @Zeinobia@Bassem_Sabry - 25 Oct Bassem Sabry باسم@Bassem_Sabry @AfterHardship thanks Yosra :) means the world to me 12:46 PM - 25 Oct 13

When I read that I wondered if he was pulling my leg.  Was he being sincere?  I wrote an email.

Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 3:47 PM

Asalamu Alaykom,

That was an honest "meant the world" comment?  I'm not good at reading snide so I'm taking it at face value.

If so, then that's cool.

I'm being honest.  I know that Sand Monkey gets a lot of readership but he's too slanted in his views.  I like that you are still searching for answers.  I am too.  I'm not exactly sure what's going on in Egypt.  I think that the people who say they do know are either lying (at least to themselves) or are delusional.  

Keep believing that your voice matters.  It does.  

Sometimes I worry that this country's events take too much of a toll on you.  Don't let them do that.  

My Best,

Yosra 

He wrote back.

Sat, Oct 26, 2013 at 6:23 AM

I'm fully honest with this. It did mean the world. Can't stress that enough ya Yosra.

I am honestly searching for answers. But I'm also searching for questions. When learning about writing years ago, I learned about Socrates who believed that a well asked question is a sublime art form and alone represents most of the path towards an answer. And the fact is: Egypt is confusing as hell, both morally and intellectually.

Other than that: Mahmoud provides an interesting angle much of the time for sure.

Definitely this all takes a toll. For two and a half years one - as are others - has been at the heart of all of this life and death, ups and downs, democracy and autocracy, success and failure, humans soaring and others sinking. It does break our souls eventually. But sometimes all such a soul needs is the honest gentle worried inquiry by a good person like yourself, and I'm grateful for that.

Thanks for letting me know I still matter :) I needed that push in the midst of this madness. Stay strong, sane, humane, and wonderful.

B.

Yes, B., you still matter.  Even after your sad death, you matter.  Didn't you know that?

I'm not the only one who cares.

Time Magazine cares.

Al-Jazeera cares.

Mashable cares.

Huffington Post cares.

Dear Readers, I want you to care.  I want you to take a moment in prayer to ask for God to forgive Bassem Sabry his faults, to reward him for his good works and to grant him Paradise.