Excluding the British daily The Times, which marks its 240th anniversary this year, most of the world’s major newspapers are considerably younger than Al-Ahram. The French Le Monde is 80 years old, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is 76, and Spain’s El País is just 49. Only Italy’s Corriere della Sera approaches Al-Ahram in age, having celebrated its 149th anniversary this year.
Over a century and a half, Al-Ahram has borne witness to Egypt’s most significant historical transformations, documenting them for its readers until it became, in every sense, a chronicle of Egyptian history and a trusted reference on its events. At certain, pivotal moments — particularly during the mid-20th century, when journalism helped to mobilise the people — Al-Ahram did not merely report history but also helped shape and influence it.
Today, I count myself among the few remaining writers who have lived through multiple phases of Al-Ahram’s history and observed firsthand its professional and political evolutions in tandem with the shifting tides of Egypt’s national journey.
Of Al-Ahram’s 150 years, I have spent 55 within the walls of its iconic buildings on Al-Galaa Street. During this time, I witnessed the era of Anwar Al-Sadat and its sweeping transformations in the aftermath of Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s time, followed by Mubarak’s rule, a period of stability followed by stagnation, culminating in the 25 January 2011 Revolution. Then came the country’s fall into the grip of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which we were liberated by the 30 June 2013 Revolution, which eliminated chaos and terrorism and ushered in a new chapter of development and construction.
Over more than five decades, I have, as Ahmed Shawki once wrote, “gathered both roses and thorns from its garden, and tasted both honey and the bitter fruit from its cup.” I experienced professional triumphs as well as times of termination, enjoyed generous recognition but also endured imprisonment. I moved through the newspaper’s various departments — from the foreign affairs section to the central editorial desk, from the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies to the first two foreign-language newspapers, which I helped to found and which stand as a distinct chapter in both my personal career and the history of this institution, which is older than some of the member states of the United Nations.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 14 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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