The Enlightening Story of Samir and Mohammad
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The sole thing that makes me “me” is what’s not of me…
The “first” and “only” photo of Samir and Mohammad dates back 135 years ago…
As evident from his name, Mohammad is Muslim; on the other hand, his bosom friend Samir is Christian to which communities paid much attention at the time of this photo.
Samir and Mohammad became “companions” to each other.
These two comrades not only embraced the literal meaning of friendship but also fully honored the essence of the word “friends,” forming an indescribable bond of friendship…
It is crystal clear that there is a lot that we should take as a “life-changing lesson” from their story.
Samir and Mohammad’s Story
Samir and Mohammad’s first and only photograph dates back 135 years; I’ve researched it, and it is original…
In the meantime, the etymology of the word “photograph” has origins in Ancient Greek from the words “photos,” meaning “light,” and “graphia,” meaning “drawing, writing.” As a result, with the word photograph, we essentially mean “light writer;” in other words, we refer to recording light onto a surface.
Let’s get back to our topic…
It is a French photographer Tancrède Dumas, who was born in Italy and pressed the shutter button for the photograph you see in the headline.
This almost century-and-a-half-old frame is currently registered with the digital archive number “cph.3b41806” at the United States Library of Congress.
“Friendship” Between Samir and Muhammad
"Muhammad" is a tall young man whose eyes have never seen the light in this world…
And on his back, he carries "Samir" who was born into this world as a disabled dwarf…
As the names suggest, Muhammad is a Muslim; his bosom friend Samir is a Christian…
However, Samir and Muhammad became “companions” to each other; they established an indescribable bond of “friendship” by fully embodying both the dictionary meaning as well as the essence of the word.
Because…
The word “friend” means “one attached to another by affection or esteem.” This word comes from the Old English “freond,” which is derived from the Proto-Germanic word “frijojan,” meaning “to love, like, honor, set free (from slavery or confinement)."
Samir and Mohammad Completed Each Other
Just imagine for a moment…
Two individuals;
Both orphaned and fatherless with no relatives in this world…
Yet, only one can see, and only the other can walk…
Samir and Mohammad, however, complement and make each other “a whole” when they are together.
Samir is dependent on Mohammad’s legs to navigate the streets of Damascus, in return, Mohammad needs Samir’s eyes to see around, find the way, and overcome obstacles.
Finally, “the shared lives of two” were built upon one’s being able to see, and the other’s being able to walk…
Samir is a storyteller working in one of the coffeehouses in Damascus, and Mohammad sells roasted chickpeas to those who come to listen to Samir.
And…
Every evening, if they managed to eat something to suppress their hunger, they marched to their single-eyed room “happily;”
But if they went hungry, this time, “with hope for the next day,” always as a unified entity.
One day…
Samir gives his last breath in this world, never to be taken again.
It is rumored that Muhammad, for a whole week after his friend’s passing, cried incessantly in his room.
It shouldn’t have been easily accepted to lose half of both his “body” and “soul”!!!
At the end of the week, Muhammad’s remaining half in this world cannot bear such sorrow any longer, and he closes his eyes too, never to open them again to reunite with the other passed-away half…
Mecmau’l Bahreyn
There is a terminology in Sufi wisdom called “Mecmau’l Bahreyn”, a word of Arabic origin.
Mecmau’l Bahreyn refers to the "meeting point, the convergence, where two seas unite, come together, and merge" in the dictionaries.
In essence, it represents a "sacred meeting point…"
As an example…
It is the place where two seas meet…
What happens when two seas meet?
They complement each other’s shortcomings, and they become an ocean!!!
Above all, they become infinity…
So…
The hunched back that carried Muhammad’s other half, Samir, should undoubtedly be a Mecmau’l Bahreyn as well…
Samir and Muhammad Were Different from Each Other
At first glance, Samir and Muhammad were different in every aspect.
Firstly, their beliefs were different; Samir was Christian, while Muhammad was Muslim.
Their appearances, and physical structures were quite different.
Their ethnic backgrounds were also different.
It’s crystal clear that their problems were entirely different as well.
Their differences were quite significant; however, none of them could ever deter Samir and Muhammad from walking together on the same path to be comrades to each other.
Because both men understood something much greater:
And Today’s Situation
The story of Samir and Mohammad unfolds about a century and a half ago in Syria.
My dear friend, despite all this passing time, it sadly seems that humanity has not made much progress in this region and its surroundings.
Indeed…
Israelis and Palestinians need each other.
Blacks and whites in America need each other.
Sunni and Shiite, Turk and Kurd, etc. all need each other.
Western and Eastern, as well as Northern and Southern worlds, need each other.
In short, we, human beings, all need each other!!!
The centuries-old belief imposed, that “we don’t need each other, just because we are different” is a blatant lie; in fact, it is chauvinism and barbarism!!!
We belong to each other, and at most, we only can complement each other!!!
The children in a Nairobi slum who look different from yours and live in different conditions compared to you…
Whether you accept it or not, they are no different from their peers vacationing in the Swiss Alps!!!
That mother displaced and condemned to live in a refugee camp…
She may be speaking a different language, but her heart beats just like yours does for her children!!!
This world is a great place to live with those who are not like you…
Our world is fine with what the “differents” give us, such as their knowledge, values, traditions, beliefs, and hearts…
Not only people like you but also those who are not like you should live long so that you can live too!!!
Try to see this mortal world once through the different ones’ eyes.
If everything around us was white, then you wouldn’t notice white, would you?
Or perhaps black…
Indeed, white stands out most beautiful even in the darkest black...
The unique thing that makes me “who I am,” is the ones who are not like me!!!
How meaningless would “a world filled only with people similar to me” be?
If people unlike me were absent in this world, I also would disappear in the “sameness” just like a white point in whole whiteness, or black in blackness!!!
If no difference exists; no meaning, no color, no flavor, at most no richness remains…
Finally…
I would like to conclude this writing with a quote from Gonxha Bojaxhiu, (Gonca Boyac?) born in the city of Skopje, which was a part of the Kosovo of the Ottoman Empire, but known to the whole world as Mother Teresa:
If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other!!!
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