All through the route I was avoiding looking around
me and focusing on reading the Qur'an in my heart. The kids were busy
playing together, trying to stop thinking in how we were two hours
ago. We were all turning to recite some verses from Qur'an, begging
Allah to help and protect us.
We went up the mountains; its beauty made us forget
for a while the ugliness of the situation...
The driver's kids were phoning him all the way to
check on each other. How much I appreciated the sacrifice this driver
was making to get us out, while he was stuck here as he refused to go
with us …it is his homeland.
Finally we arrived at Shotoura …but ..there was a
surprise waiting us.
There, right in front of us a bomb had just dropped
on the road and exploded before we reached this place five minutes
ago, it was so close to us. Two cars in front of us have been
abolished. If we had been there a minute earlier… we would have been
the dead of this bomb, but Thank Allah. He was our guide in this
terrific trip. I will never forget this scene , it was terrible!
The driver shot backwards, and called all the other
cars. Quickly he was yelling at the others to stay away from the
route, and seek shelter, away from the gas stations. He was cursing,
saying we were just at the cross road where we would find a bus to
take us across the boarder. He was trying to quickly figure what to
do… TO GET ANOTHER WAY FOR US, It seemed the key sentence in his
mind now even if he would die for that.
My husband has been dead worried, trying to call us
but I could hear him in these circumstances.
The driver asked other cars to follow him. He took
a rough way through the mountains, and there we were…in front of
many buses, filled with people who tried to flee. A kind Lebanese
house next to such buses invited us to stay for awhile in their house.
Suddenly they were calling us outside, we have to leave quickly.. The
bus driver rushed back into the road of Shotoura, right after where
the bomb has been exploded. At that moment, all woes and bad memories
displayed before my eyes.
My husband called again. And there we were. At the
border point….But would we become safe yet?
The border was overcrowded, with what seemed like
thousand of people leaving Lebanon through Syria...
Once we had passed the boarders we heard the news,
the borders have been shot just after ten minutes of our departure …
It was another sign from God.
At last, we were in Damascus, but we knew nothing
or anyone there. There was another problem here too; the last plane to
Egypt took off two hours ago of our arrival to Syria; we might not
find this chance again.
We were left with one option, go to Jordan. We may
could book our tickets from there.
We got three taxis, route Damascus- Jordan. It was
now seven P.M. The road was pitching so dark. Along this trip, My son
imagined trees as if they were the bomb smoke, and any sound his ears
caught was nothing but an explosion!
Sunday, 16th July 2006
By almost twelve thirty we arrived at the borders
with Jordan. Smoothly our passports were stamped at the first gate
towards Syria…the surprise was at the second gate, the gate to
Jordan.
The surprise came when we were told by the
Jordanian officers that EGYPTIANS are NOT ALLOWED to pass to Egypt
through their country. We tried all ways but all went in vain.
We had no choice; we had to return to Syria again.
After the door which we hope to get rest and safety from it was closed
before our faces.
We went back to Syria again …It was now five A.M.
We couldn’t find any rooms in a hotel to stay in it for few hours.
Finally we found two rooms. We spent the night there. Actually I could
hardly sleep for two hours only. I knew no calm sleep as I was always
so worried . the buzz of the airplane are still in my ears.
There was a news that Syria would be getting
involved in this war, as Syria supported Hizb Allah against Israel,
there is a guess that Syria might be the next one in this war.
We were asking ourselves many questions to find out
the answer for “What did we learn from this experience?”
We all had one answer " God saved us" ..
Many Thanks to Him. But I had more to say:
“1- God was showing us a clear message that He
wants to protect and save us…and that whatever and however small we
are, He can protect us. even if we are only a drop in the middle of a
large sea. It is not our president, not our army, no one…IT IS JUST
HIM and our FAITH in Him.
2- God is sending us another clear message, or at
least to me…. Shame on you how you watched silently before, shame on
you how sometimes you even turned it off to avoid glooming yourself.
Shame on you that with time you forgot your brothers and sisters in
your prayers. Now that I have saved you and done all that for
you…what will you do for Me. I MEANT to put you there ALONE…and
save you…just to feel it..
"WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR ME.”
We were finally on the plane by one A.M, but fear
controlled us all: they might catch and shoot us
Monday, 17th 2006
We arrived Cairo at three A.M.
“Glory To God, who saved you,…it is a miracle
from God” were the words that my husband greeted me with ...
Definitely he was most right about that.
Back Home:
OUR SILENCE ANNOUNCES OUR DEATH
But even in Cairo, I cannot sleep, I still dream I
am there in the middle of fire... I cannot forget how were children
died there … it is the scene I will never forget.
I can't sleep…trying to figure out the message
God is sending to me through this journey…OH GOD WHAT DO YOU WANT ME
TO DO?…WHAT IS YOUR REAL MESSAGE TO ME??
I am still SLEEPLESS in CAIRO.
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"Sleepless in Cairo" is the second part of the story of an Egyptian family that was in Lebanon during the war. In this part, the mother narrates how they managed to escape and return to
Egypt |
