Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds

Add a Comment

Comment by joshua fouts on April 20, 2009 at 1:40pm

As many of you know, we completed the Understanding Islam through Virtual Worlds project and released the findings at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs on January 29, 2009.

The conversation continues on the subject and we welcome your input and ideas. The link to the project report is here. You can view digital versions of all of the findings.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the project. We look forward to continuing the conversation.

Comment by Todd Kelsey on July 29, 2008 at 9:22am

Greetings,

I shared a poem with Josh and he suggested I could post it to the group. It is called 1000 Year Reunion, and is written for the people of the Middle East. Josh mentioned that there are a number of publishers and editors of Middle East-emphasis in the group who might appreciate the spirit of the poem.

I've included a link here to the English and Arabic version, and I've pasted it below (sorry Josh if the comment ends up being too long).

(English, with intro) https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dhbxftbn_82mm46cgcz&hl=en
(Arabic) http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dhbxftbn_116g5462bdm

I wrote it last year, at a point when I was volunteering to help One Laptop Per Child and Meedan, and wondering deeply about whether the multilingual and virtual Internet might help to bring the world closer together. I shared it with a girl from Cairo on the airplane one time, and she liked it. Dave Gutelius helped me translate it into Arabic.

I have this dream of reading it someday in Gaza, in Arabic, and seeing if I could get it translated into Farsi, and reading it in Tehran. For some reason I began to weep profusely when I wrote it.

If anyone would have any thoughts someday of a publication in the Middle East I could submit it to, or a conference, or talks, or something -- I would appreciate if you thought of me and dropped me a line. (I'm also interested in finding someone who could translate it well into Farsi.)

======================================

Thousand Year Reunion - A Poem for the People of the Middle East

Dear Reader: The image of ice comes from an event, historic or legend I do not know – Saladin was an Arab who led several responses to the Crusades, and at one point, there was a battle near Jerusalem where the Templars ran out of water, and were defeated, and when their leader was brought to Saladin, Saladin gave him a cup that had ice in it. The poem is on the theme of a reunion between English and Arabic speaking people. It is a poem of love, and I suppose it is addressed to the Middle East, to anyone whose mother tongue is Arabic or Farsi. - Todd Eric Kelsey


------------

Thousand Year Reunion

The river runs dry
like a desert

cherishing the memory
of water falling into sand
drops from Saladin's ice
and Jesus' side
now deep underground

I love you my brother, my sister
my tears will join that reservoir

I fall asleep, dreaming
in the distance I see a garden
I'm running, rushing towards it
like a waterfall, over the edge
and into your embrace

there's a river in my heart
your children, my children
are swimming, playing in it

it's so nice to see you
I haven't seen your smile
in a thousand years

forgive me
my brother, my sister
I love you so much

my eyes are growing dim now
let me hold your hand
and just look at you
like a flower, flowering

there's an ocean in my heart
your grandchildren, my grandchildren
are sailing, exploring together

Comment by joshua fouts on June 20, 2008 at 1:47pm

You may all be interested in the original press release about the Understanding Islam project: carnegie.pdf.