Report of the Lebanese Torch Delegation on Its Journey to Egypt

At eight-thirty on Saturday, February 9, 1946, the members of the Torch delegation — Messrs. Hikmat Khidr, Salim Salam, Samir Naim, Adel Khalaf, Anis al-Daouk, and François Ghosn, led by the delegation's honorary president, Deputy Saeb Bey Salam — had the honor of being received by His Excellency the exalted President of the Lebanese Republic at his palace, bearing the Torch of Lebanon, a gift to His Majesty the exalted King of Egypt on his happy birthday. His Excellency the President of the Republic graciously kindled the flame of the torch at a ceremony attended by the ministers, the deputies, the members of the diplomatic corps, and men of the press, while a detachment of the Republican Guard, with the gendarmerie band, rendered the torch its salute. His Excellency delivered a speech in which he furnished the members of the mission with his precious counsel, and handed them a special letter to His Majesty King Farouk. Deputy Saeb Bey Salam replied with brief remarks, and Mr. Hikmat Khidr followed with a word in which he said that the delegation would prove worthy of the good opinion His Excellency and the country held of it. Present for the Egyptian side was the chargé d'affaires of the Egyptian Legation, the Honorable Hussein Karara Bey.

As the hour of nine drew near, the delegation took leave of His Excellency to depart; its members boarded an automobile over which fluttered the two flags, the Lebanese and the Egyptian, and set their course toward Palestine amid the cheers of the well-wishers and the vast crowds that had massed before the presidential palace to see the delegation off. The delegation's car was escorted by a number of motorcycles and by the chargé d'affaires of the Egyptian Legation and some of his aides; and the delegation's honorary president would have it no other way than to be the last to bid farewell. When the delegation's car reached the Forest of Beirut, its members alighted and shook hands with their well-wishers one last time before leaving the country, then continued on to Jerusalem, arriving at six o'clock and putting up at the King David Hotel, where a great crowd of our Palestinian brothers hastened to meet them, headed by the Honorable consul of Lebanon, Mr. Abd al-Ghani Ayyad.

On the morning of the next day we left Jerusalem in the early morning, heading for Ismailia, and at noon we reached the post of Abu Uwayqila, where the commander of the post received us, offered us tea and coffee, and asked us to wait for the guard that the Honorable governor of the Canal had dispatched to escort us. Only a few minutes passed before Yuzbashi Muhammad Hasan Uthman, commander of the al-Arish military station, arrived and informed us that the guard would come shortly. And so we had scarcely finished our tea and coffee when two jeeps arrived carrying armed soldiers, who placed themselves at our disposal. We boarded the car and headed for Ismailia, reaching it at a quarter past four, in accordance with the agreed program. Waiting for us on the western bank of the Canal were Liwa Ibrahim al-Dasuqi Pasha, commander of the Canal zone; Deputy Dr. Suleiman Abd; the police inspector, Bikbashi Muhammad Farid Bey, and his assistant, Sagh Ibrahim al-Dib Bey,

and the members of the Egyptian University mission, Messrs. Muhammad Ahmad Bannuna, director of college affairs at Fuad University, Dr. Ahmad Farag, and Mr. Mohsen Abaza; and the members of the Lebanese colony, who kept coming forward to us saying, with evident joy and burning feeling, "We are Lebanese, brothers — I am so-and-so... from such-and-such a town..." and so on — which moved us to embrace them while the tears all but sprang from our eyes. We were also received by a great throng of notables and dignitaries, scouts, and inhabitants, for whom the whole bank was too small. After several pictures had been taken of us, we boarded the car under police escort and made a tour of the streets of Ismailia amid the cheering of the multitudes who had packed the streets to overflowing, hailing Lebanon and its President, and Egypt and her Farouk. When we had finished the tour we put up at the Palace Hotel, where the members of the Lebanese colony asked to keep vigil over the torch and guard it.

It is worth mentioning that Radio Ismailia was broadcasting, for its part, every move and pause of the mission. In the evening we met Mr. Ghalib al-Turk, the envoy of the Lebanese Legation in Cairo, and agreed with him on the program drawn up for our reception; and the Lebanese colony gave a dinner party for us at the hotel, to which the notables and dignitaries of the town were invited, and at which Captain Michel Zoghbi spoke — his speech made the greatest impression on all hearts for the tender feeling it held toward Lebanon, this immortal country. After passing that night, in the morning we paid a visit to

the cooperative that had risen on the arms of the town's poor; then we went to the police administration, where we called on the inspector general, Bikbashi Muhammad Farid Bey; after that we proceeded to the zone command headquarters and paid our respects to Liwa Ibrahim al-Dasuqi Pasha. At noon the Lebanese Mr. Tawfiq Kayrouz Bey had prepared a luncheon for us in which Lebanese generosity and the noble Lebanese character shone forth.

At half past two we boarded the car for Cairo, bidding farewell to Ismailia and her people, and set out with God's blessings, guarded by the palace motorcycles flying small Lebanese flags, with the director of the Cairo police, the director of public security, and the students' delegation, while the members of the Lebanese colony accompanied us to the outskirts of Ismailia, where they bade us farewell and turned back after taking from us a promise to return.

We had scarcely left Ismailia behind when we saw crowds of villagers standing in rows on both sides of the road, cheering for the Torch of Lebanon and for Farouk. Although we were declining the invitations to stop and hear the poems the townsfolk had prepared for us, the inhabitants of one village, after planting themselves in front of our car, compelled us to rest and hear a splendid poem composed for the occasion of the birthday. After that our procession continued on its way toward Cairo amid cheers and blessings, until we reached the Prisons post, where its commander — after arranging for us a guard of honor a kilometer long and a mounted guard to escort our procession — asked us to take refreshments and rest from the fatigue of travel. But time did not permit us to grant his request, so we excused ourselves and continued on, the horsemen escorting us and the soldiers saluting on either side. We reached Ismailia Square in Cairo at six o'clock, and there we were received by the head of the Torches Committee, the Honorable Muhammad Husayn Pasha, and others of the palace officials and the welcoming party. Cheer upon cheer went up from the students — "Lebanon, brother of Egypt!" — and the delegation returned the greeting with a better one; then the cheers of the army and the people rose to cleave the very heart of the sky, all hailing Lebanon and its President, and Egypt and Farouk. At half past six the torches of the police and the University met the Lebanese torch, and their bearers stood beside the bearer of the Lebanese torch. At seven o'clock exactly the procession of the three torches moved forward, preceded by a mounted detachment of the Egyptian army carrying torches, and followed by the notables and dignitaries, more than four thousand students carrying torches, four bands of music, and a vast throng of the masses, all bound for the stately Abdine Palace. Cairo in those moments — truth be told — was one blaze of fire, and the army's searchlights shone down on us like the sun in the heart of the sky. No sooner had we reached the forecourt of the palace and taken our stand before the balcony than His Majesty King Farouk appeared above us in his radiant presence, the men of the royal entourage around him. After the band had sounded the royal anthem, His Majesty expressed the wish to receive the delegation of the Torch of Lebanon, so we mounted the palace stairs, preceded by the Honorable our minister plenipotentiary, until we reached the royal balcony, where we had the honor of an audience with His Majesty. The moment we beheld His Majesty — God preserve him — his lips parted in a smile fresher than the spring of Lebanon and more radiant. Mr. Hikmat Khidr presented the torch to His Majesty, and Mr. Salim Salam presented the letter of His Excellency our President, which he accepted with a smile; he shook hands with us one by one, asking after the health of His Excellency our beloved President and after the noble Lebanese people. After that a photograph was taken of us in His Majesty's company, in deference to his gracious wish, and immediately thereafter His Majesty — God keep him — bestowed on each one of us the silver Medal of Merit. We then asked leave to withdraw and returned to the Continental Hotel, where rooms had been prepared for our stay, and we lodged as the guests of Egypt.

On the day after our arrival in Cairo there came to the hotel the mission's escort, Mr. al-Said Habib, one of the finest of Egypt's young men in culture, learning, and gentleness of manner, who placed himself at our disposal for the whole length of our stay in Cairo. The first thing we did was to go to the stately Abdine Palace to inscribe our names in the protocol register. From there we went straight to the Lebanese Legation — the Kaaba of all Lebanese in the land of the Nile — and called on the Honorable minister plenipotentiary of Lebanon, Sheikh Sami al-Houri, who overwhelmed us with his kindness until each of us felt as if he were in his own home; and thence to the Lebanese Consulate.

In the afternoon we attended the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of Farouk University City, on a special invitation from His Majesty. It is worth mentioning that His Majesty had scarcely taken his exalted place when he asked about us and whether we were there, and as soon as he learned of it he graciously turned his kindly gaze toward us as a sign that he knew of our presence — a gesture that made the deepest impression on our hearts. In the evening the Honorable Mustafa Fahmi Pasha, the man who had labored first and foremost for the success of the idea of the torch, had invited us to a family evening; we accepted the invitation and became acquainted with still other faces of generous, hospitable Egypt.

On the following day, February 13, 1946, the Lebanese Legation gave a delightful tea party for us, to which it invited the Lebanese athletic mission then in Egypt, some Egyptian young men, and men of the press. After that we went to the general headquarters of the Young Men's Muslim Associations in answer to an invitation we had received from

the headquarters, and were given a brilliant reception. On the morning of the next day we made for the wax museum to see the sights; it was, truth be told, a masterpiece of immortal art and of monuments that the passing of the days cannot efface. Then we went to Studio Misr, where Husni Bey Naguib, the studio's artistic director, accompanied us and explained everything to us; then we took refreshments and coffee and returned to the hotel.

On February 15, 1946, we accepted the invitation of Mr. Ahmad Abaza Bey, member of the Chamber of Deputies, to luncheon at his estate "al-Rab'aya" near Zagazig, where we spent a few hours that can never be forgotten. Ahmad Bey declared to me that Lebanon is the one country in which the heart of the Egyptian summer visitor finds ease. At four o'clock we went to Zagazig itself, visited the athletic club, and took tea at the table of Mr. Mohsen Abaza.

On Saturday we lunched at the table of Mr. Halim Abu Izz al-Din, Lebanon's consul and its pride in Cairo; then we went to the juvenile reformatory, where the Honorable Fariq Muhammad Haydar Pasha gave a tea party for us by command of His Majesty Farouk, God preserve him. There the boys performed most beautiful athletic exercises; they were dressed in red and white, so that every minute we saw our flag before us, and our whole being thrilled with delight and rejoicing. When we entered the hall prepared for the tea, we saw the Lebanese flags adorning the walls, embracing the flags of Egypt. At the end of the party the Honorable Fariq delivered a fine speech about the young men of the mission, and Mr. Hikmat Khidr thanked him in our name; then Sheikh al-Safi recited a magnificent poem on Lebanon and its President, Farouk and Egypt, and the friendship that binds the two peoples. In the evening we accepted the invitation of the famous singer Farid al-Atrash to supper at the Arizona theater on the Pyramids road, and we passed one of the nights of a lifetime.

On the next day, Sunday, February 17, we visited the Antikkhana, or Egyptian Museum, and our eyes beheld antiquities that the pen is powerless to describe. At four o'clock we called on His Excellency Ismail Sidqi Pasha upon his return from the oath-taking ceremony at the stately Abdine Palace, and he spoke to us of Lebanon, of its beauty, and of his love for it.

At five o'clock we accepted the invitation of the Faculty of Arts to a tea party that had been prepared for us. We seized the opportunity of the presence of the members of the mission that had visited Lebanon a short while before, and put to most of them questions about the impression their visit to Lebanon had left; their words were unanimous that it is an immortal and beautiful country. By happy chance we met there the Honorable Abd al-Rahman Azzam Pasha, who delivered a fine address to us.

In the evening we accepted an invitation extended to us by His Excellency Abd al-Aziz Talaat Harb Bey, and there we met the leading faces of Egypt, among them the Honorable Fariq Omar Fathi Pasha and Muhammad Husayn Pasha, head of the Torches Committee, who spared no effort to provide every comfort for the members of the Lebanese Torch mission.

On the following day, February 18, 1946, we went to the stately Abdine Palace to inscribe our names in the protocol register and to ask leave to depart, thanking His Majesty the King — God keep him — for the generous kindness and lofty attention he had graciously bestowed upon us. Then we went to the National Committee for Physical Training to thank the head of the Torches Committee, the Honorable Muhammad Husayn Pasha; then we paid a visit to the head of the Prisons Administration, the Honorable Fariq Muhammad Haydar Pasha, but he was absent. After that we proceeded to the Ministry of War, where we called on the Honorable Fariq Atallah Pasha, Chief of the General Staff of the Egyptian Army, who spoke to us of Lebanon and its beauty and of the possibility of his visiting it soon. Then we visited the Lebanese Legation and the Consulate to thank them for all they had done for us. A little before noon we paid a visit to the late lamented Ahmad Husayn Pasha, who received us with every welcome, saying: "Ever since you came I have been waiting for you, young men; come and sit down, for I have much that I wish to say to you." Half an hour later we came out of his office in gladness and elation, for he was — God rest his soul — a man like no other men; and we were the last to visit the departed.

On the second day our stay as guests came to an end, and we made for Alexandria, the desert road being cut by sandstorms, and there we passed the night. On Wednesday we headed for Ismailia; the road was still blocked, so we passed the night there after attempting to cross the desert, and we sent a farewell telegram in which we expressed our feelings at Egypt's hospitality. At this time the tragic news had reached us of the death of His Excellency Husayn Pasha, so we sent a telegram of condolence to the Chief Chamberlain to be laid before His Majesty the King, God preserve him. On the morning of the next day we continued on to Haifa, meeting great difficulties on the road — the car nearly failed to get through because of the sandstorms — but God was gracious and we reached Haifa in safety. We continued on the next day and arrived in Lebanon and its immortal hills, where we had the honor of an audience with His Excellency the exalted President of the Republic, symbol of independence and sovereignty, who received us with every welcome and congratulated us on our safe return.

We cannot close this report without setting forth the abundant benefits that resulted from this visit of ours: Lebanon was the axis of every conversation and the substance of every cheer, and our Egyptian brothers and the Lebanese colony spared no pains to provide for our comfort at every halt and on every road, foremost among them the mission's escort, Mr. al-Said Habib.

Long live Lebanon — cherished, independent, sovereign, and free!
The rapporteur, François Khalil Ghosn

Beirut, February 27, 1946