Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily is being honoured by Google today.
Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily is being honoured by Google today.
Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily is being honoured by Google today.
Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily is being honoured by Google today.

Who was Gamila El Alaily? Google Doodle honours Egyptian poet and columnist


Rupert Hawksley
  • English
  • Arabic

Egyptian poet and essayist Gamila El Alaily is the subject of today's Google Doodle, which celebrates what would have been El Alaily's 112th birthday.

Born in 1907 in Mansoura, Dakahlia, El Alaily moved to Cairo as a young woman and began contributing poems to the well-respected literary journal Apollo. She later became the only female member of the Apollo Society, a group of modernist writers and artists based in Cairo, and is considered a key figure in Egypt's modern art renaissance.

In 1936, El Alaily published The Echo of My Dreams, the first of three volumes of poetry. She also wrote a regular column for 25 years, in which she ruminated on everything from philosophy and ethics to the role of women in society. She is said to have been inspired by Lebanese-Palestinian poet May Ziade (1886-1941).

In a short note about today’s Doodle, Google wrote: “In this respect, as well as her prolific poetic output, she broke new ground for women in the Arab world, inspiring generations of writers to come.”

El Alaily's poems are widely available in Arabic, however not many translations are on offer. The National has translated an excerpt from one of her 1976 works from her collection The Echo Of My Faith to give readers a sense of her style:

A Strange Heart

O God, my heart is dreadful. How can I revive it?

Who can lull and calm down my heart?

The sound of arrogance is deafening my ear today,

I would have talked to it had I not had self-praise.

Strange my heart has become when in love.

Pure love it is, anyone to perceive?

I have become flabbergast at my ordeal,

I conceal none of my love fears.

I ask God to inspire me.

Do I have a living heart or should I lament its death?

Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily has been honoured in a Google Doodle
Egyptian poet Gamila El Alaily has been honoured in a Google Doodle

El Alaily died on April 11 1991.

This Google Doodle is only being shown to users in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Oman.

In this story, we discuss how doodles showcasing the Western world are often shown across the entire globe, whereas those from the Middle East are only shown to those of us in the region.

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Arab World's Google Doodles

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Two Doodles in particular illustrate this disparity with perfect asymmetry. On July 24, 2012, the entire world, including the UAE, was invited to celebrate the 115th birthday of American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared flying over the Pacific in 1937. On October 29, 2014, only Mena countries received the Doodle marking the 107th birthday of Lotfia El Nadi, the Arab world’s first female pilot, campaigner for women’s equality and the first woman after Earhart to fly solo.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW

Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

Rating: 3.5/5

ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES

All matches at the Harare Sports Club:

1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets

2nd ODI, Friday, April 12

3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14

4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16

UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

Where to apply

Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020

Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.

The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020. 

Third Test

Day 3, stumps

India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151

India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining

WandaVision

Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany

Directed by: Matt Shakman

Rating: Four stars

Know your Camel lingo

The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home

Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless

Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers

Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s

Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival

THE SPECS

Engine: 3.6-litre V6

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 285bhp

Torque: 353Nm

Price: TBA

On sale: Q2, 2020

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

RESULTS

6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m

Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m

Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard

8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar

9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m

Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby