- 7 -The new one expressed by the Egyptian National University. I said this mental image is new because it is not hidden that the Egyptians were subject to others for most of their time. The Persians ruled them, then the Greeks, then the Romans, then the Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula and Baghdad, then the Mamluks, then the Ottomans in the end. If we want to know the time when men from among them might have ruled them, we must go back to the doubtful times preceding the era of the Pharaohs. However, this Egyptian National University is still, to this day, a matter of growth from the outside, not from the inside (in the terminology of botanists). It resulted from the mixing of Egypt with Europe, which Nubar Pasha alluded to with the mouth of the Khedive who was a ruler in his time, saying that Egypt was no longer part of Africa. Then it was born in minds from the influence of the benefits that flowed to it rapidly, with no parallel in history, by introducing Western civilization to it at the hands of a nation alien to it. It is one of the wonders of time and the marvels of political judgments that today this nation, and even those on whose hands this nation performed most of its work, are the greatest obstacle preventing the realization of the aspirations whose image resulted from their work. I said that distinguishing between the multiple opinions circulating among the Egyptian social body is difficult. And on the mention of this, I warn researchers in Egyptian affairs against hastiness in generalization and drawing absolute conclusions in their studies, as they often forget that the Egyptian social body is divided into many sections according to different, even conflicting, interests and opinions, as is observed in every European social body. Yes, the difficulty in knowing the truth about the generations, emotions, and aspirations of Egyptians is not as great as in India, where the division of people into distinct castes prevents Europeans from interacting with most of the inhabitants. However, there is no doubt that the difference in Egyptians in terms of race, religion, language, morals, and customs greatly affects this matter. I know many Europeans who have lived in Egypt for a long time, to the point where they imagine they know something about the Egyptian opinion, while in reality, they only know the opinion of one or more segments of the Egyptian social body residing in the large Egyptian cities where they interact and mix with them. I say this while not claiming that my knowledge of Egyptian opinions is superior. I have spent a long time in the East, so I have learned not to be certain about knowing the opinion of an Easterner whose habit is not to stick to one opinion. I do not blame him, but rather pity him for not sticking to his opinion, often because he is in circumstances and conditions that make it very difficult for a person to stick to an opinion. My purpose in all that we have presented is to make the reader acknowledge the difficulty of ascertaining the opinions of Egyptians, and once they acknowledge this.