{"id":42974,"date":"2026-02-04T13:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T11:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42974"},"modified":"2026-02-04T14:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:00:30","slug":"the-seagull-of-istanbul-and-the-nilea-message-of-peace-to-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=42974","title":{"rendered":"The Seagull of Istanbul and the Nile\u2026A Message of Peace to the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poetry: Ashraf AboArafe<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

NOT<\/span><\/strong> a bird,<\/span>
\nbut the white clock of the city,<\/span>
\nsketching life with a wing,<\/span>
\nsigning the seasons upon the air.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a color that never ages,<\/span>
\nwith bright feathers<\/span>
\nlike a morning prayer<\/span>
\nover the Bosphorus,<\/span>
\nand a gentle heart<\/span>
\nthat knows how<\/span>
\nto resist cruel cold<\/span>
\nand lethal ice,<\/span>
\nhe plays\u2014morning and evening\u2014<\/span>
\nIstanbul\u2019s symphony<\/span>
\nwithout a score,<\/span>
\nwithout a conductor.<\/span><\/p>\n

A seagull<\/span>
\nwith eyes that know the paths,<\/span>
\nwith a white voice<\/span>
\nlike a harbor\u2019s laughter,<\/span>
\nhe soars without losing his way,<\/span>
\nand lands<\/span>
\nas if he knows<\/span>
\nwhere the city places its heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

He ascends the Sea of Marmara<\/span>
\nas though it were his blue throne,<\/span>
\ncrosses the Bosphorus<\/span>
\nas memory crosses<\/span>
\nbetween two shores,<\/span>
\ngreeting rooftops,<\/span>
\ntrees\u2026<\/span>
\nand stones\u2026<\/span>
\nas if he governs the city,<\/span>
\nordering chaos<\/span>
\nwith a wing.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the pages of Marmara\u2019s water,<\/span>
\ntourists flirt with him<\/span>
\nusing bread and nuts,<\/span>
\nas one who feeds joy<\/span>
\nfrom the palm of the hand.<\/span>
\nIn return,<\/span>
\nthe seagull offers a musical piece<\/span>
\nof sound, flutter, and circling,<\/span>
\nto which all creatures dance\u2014<\/span>
\neven the water<\/span>
\nforgets its stillness.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the dominance of his white hue,<\/span>
\nwinter\u2019s ice takes the same color,<\/span>
\ncovering all of Istanbul,<\/span>
\nproclaiming to the world<\/span>
\nhow peace may be,<\/span>
\nand how harmony is born.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems<\/span>
\nthat Istanbul alone<\/span>
\nis gifted with this seagull\u2014<\/span>
\nwhat secret<\/span>
\nhas the city hidden<\/span>
\nin its waters,<\/span>
\nits minarets,<\/span>
\nand the pulse of its alleys?<\/span><\/p>\n

O great Nile of Egypt,<\/span>
\nif I were to call the seagull of Istanbul<\/span>
\nout loud,<\/span>
\nwe trust that you receive his messages in secret,<\/span>
\nmorning and evening\u2014<\/span>
\nmessages of love,<\/span>
\naffection,<\/span>
\nand mutual respect<\/span>
\nbetween two nations<\/span>
\nthat were once<\/span>
\none.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus history swears,<\/span>
\nand geography bears witness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seagull of Istanbul,<\/span>
\nif you were to fly above Egypt,<\/span>
\nyou would confirm<\/span>
\nthat peace is not a visitor\u2014<\/span>
\nbut one of her names.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poetry: Ashraf AboArafe   NOT a bird, but the white clock of the city, sketching life with a wing, signing the seasons upon the air. In a color that never ages, with bright feathers like a morning prayer over the Bosphorus, and a gentle heart that knows how to resist cruel cold and lethal ice, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,388],"tags":[22780,21312,22781,22779,13196],"class_list":["post-42974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chief-editor","category-slide","tag-istanbul-and","tag-of-peace","tag-the-nilea-message","tag-the-seagull-of","tag-to-the-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42975,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42974\/revisions\/42975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}