He is well known as the “King of the Jungle”, and if a man wants to be described as brave; he elates if told  “You are a Lion”. We met him in his home. We traveled to him in a special visit, to examine his life closely, enjoy contemplating his courage and hoping to get infected with it, listen to his roar in humility, so we may assimilate him in our struggle.

We were surprised that the lion is not only this courageous creature possessing that horrible roar. He did not gain his status in the forest just for courage and loud voice, as he does not depend solely on his boldness in managing his life. However, he is provided with witty tactical capabilities enabling him to achieve his objectives and overcome the risks. These capabilities may have been the secret of his courage, for he is confident that he possesses the defense and attack tools, and he indicated this in more than one occasion. 

 
If you want to be like the Lion study him well, and do not look at the final scene only, when he attacks his prey, because this scene can be deceptive if it makes you think that this is the secret of his excellence. There are other more important scenes, precedent to this final dramatic one.

Studying the Lion tells us how he identifies the limits of his abilities, and gets acquainted with his weaknesses, thus he does not attack except when he is close to the prey, sometimes he avoids battles and be satisfied with a defense plan, how not to face his prey from the front if it is stronger than him and capable of hurting him, when to hide and when to declare his presence, how to organize himself through interrelated working groups, and how to roar and when to attack.

Organizing… Hiding… Appearing… Roaring… Defending… Attacking…Refraining… This is the lion; he is a mixture of all that. He is not just boldness of attacking and ability to roar. Enough to know that the lion spends about twenty hours of his day in comfort and indolence!!(1) 

Despite his indolence man gave him the title “The King of The Forest”. His long indolence gives his movement a meaning… So, If he moves everyone is affected by his movement. This is what happened with us! We received the wireless signal that the Lion started his movement out there in a remote location… Accordingly; we jumped into the convertible car and prepared our cameras to begin a journey in search for him.

We set off into the wilds…we had a skillful driver who was cutting-off the distances without looking around, since he knows the location of the Lion very well, and knows under which tree he shades.

We reached the tree, and once we found him our tongues went silent and our eyes were standing still. We approached him in extreme urban manners as if we were in the presence of an honorable scholar or a pious man. He was ready for us…No… Not to attack us but to begin his lessons!

Wael Adel

Translated by Rana Mohammed

February 26^th, 2012