until they became dust. Sharif Pasha, may God have mercy on him, was known for his sincerity and detachment from the world, renowned for his diligence, insight, and broad knowledge in political affairs, international relations, and other contemporary sciences. He received his education in the higher French schools and spent a considerable time in the service of the country and its people, first in the military under the reign of Al-Hajj Muhammad Ali Pasha the Great, then under Ibrahim Pasha, and 'Assas Pasha I. Then under Pasha, and later during the governorship of Ismail Pasha, holding important positions in all these eras, most notably in the military and with the soldiers. He died at the age of sixty-eight, and it was said seventy. He is the one who said, "If the Sudan is cornered, do not abandon us," which became a proverb among Egyptians, may God have mercy on him with His vast mercy.

What increased people's hatred for the ruling authority was the succession of events, the emergence of corruption, and the English's aggression towards the people of the land, and their humiliation for the slightest reason or smallest incident. It happened in those days that two senior English officers went out one day to hunt in the outskirts of the Gezira pyramids. It so happened that one of them fired his rifle, intending to hunt, and its shot hit the face of a farmer who was watching his buffalo. The farmer screamed and his owner went to his aid, and the shooter followed him, gently appeased him, and gave him some dirhams. He did not leave until his father arrived, grabbed the Englishman, and insulted him profusely. The Englishman shouted to his companions, saying, "Quickly!" and aimed his rifle at the man. The villagers, rushing, gathered all the weapons and ammunition from the village, and brought them to the village, and gathered them in a house there. They carried the deceased to the village amidst shouts and clamor, and the wailing of women. Then they took the two Englishmen to the office of the Gezira Directorate and negotiated with the authorities. When the news of what had happened reached the commander of the English forces and their army chief, he was greatly agitated. He was furious with Pasha Nahar for demanding the punishment of all the people of that village, so that they would be punished for the killer and the wounded Englishmen. It was not long, perhaps a day or part of a day, before a detachment of English cavalry marched to that village and took everything from it, beating and expelling everyone. They took them to a tent they had pitched near the pyramids, where a group of Englishmen were. They began to interrogate them and question them, then punished them. They all sentenced them to be flogged with whips, and they were beaten severely. Some of them were searched. They gathered all the weapons and ammunition from the village and left. The blood of that murdered man went in vain. And all this, while the ruling authority showed no reaction or resistance, except that it agreed to send the man from that village to prison until they were judged by the courts and given the punishments prescribed by law. As a result of this, a gang of young men from Cairo and Old Egypt, who had graduated from some schools, emerged and called themselves "The Free Patriots." A group of those who had been granted permission by Mustafa Riad Pasha gathered around them, and they began to meet secretly in one of their houses.