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"Praise be to Allah! Whose is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and to Him be praise in the Hereafter! And He is the Wise, the Aware."�Holy Qur'an, Surah 134, verse 1

My arrival back into the United States at O�Hare International Terminal in Chicago, Illinois, on Dec. 22nd coincided with the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan�s press conference held at Mosque Maryam. Later that evening, I was pleased and happy to greet our Minister and his wife, Mother Khadijah, and other family members and laborers to inform them of my safe return from Egypt and other places abroad.

On that same evening an extraordinarily beautiful full moon appeared, brightening up the night skies as another sign to study in the closing days of this 20th century. I reflected upon my parting days from Egypt, thanking Allah for those impacting 10 days in the Ancient Land of our Foreparents meandering along the Banks of the Nile.

Everywhere I turned, even after returning to Paris for a one night layover in preparation for my return to America, there were the continuous signs of Egypt. The magazine in my hotel room carried an enlarged story on the ancient wonders of Egypt. The next morning I was given two more magazines which covered more aspects on the magnificent monuments and civilizations in Egypt.

In the previous evening came the breaking story of the successful court victory won by Mohamed Al Fayed in the libel suit framed against him by former British lawmaker Neil Hamilton. Mr. Fayed is the Egyptian-born owner of famed Harrods department store and father of the deceased Dodi Fayed, who was killed along with Princess Diana in a Paris car crash on August 31 of the year 1998.

Later, on board my United Flight to Chicago, The Discovery Channel, appearing on the individual TV monitors at each passenger�s seat, featured a continuous series on new archeological finds being made in the Nile Valley taking us down to the 4th cataract and beyond to the sites of the Ancient Nubians and that of the Sudan to the former Land of Cush.

Almighty God, Allah, allowed the opening of a narrow window and entrance into Egypt, to retrace my footsteps, in this transition from the Old World Order into the New. To express my gratitude to Allah for His Loving Kindness and Bountiful Grace for extending to me this journey in my lifetime as the fulfillment of the Vision of my heart, I began to weep as all my past and present memories flashed through my mind�as I remembered the days of my youth and my dreams in my continuous struggle in life to be at One with my Lord.

As in the Song of Solomon, I viewed the millennia of many lifetimes passing through my mind�s eye. I could hardly wait to tell my people, my family and my friends how Allah had blessed me in those 10 days, to see another Face of God�s Truth in my special pilgrimage journey back to a part of my native land and people on the edge of the New Millennium. With each step, I could see my husband there as my personal Guide in Search of the Knowledge of self and of God. My heart is full of the Majesty of God and of His Countless Blessings and Favors bestowed upon me and upon The Believers.

As we approach the last 10 Nights of Ramadan, I realized that my journey to this part of our Holy Land in Egypt, occurring in the Month of Ramadan was reminiscent of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan�s World Friendship Tour III visitation to the Holy City, Mecca and Madinah in Arabia in 1997 which also occurred in the Month of Ramadan. He also visited Egypt during that time with a 24 person delegation which included travels to the ancient sites of Luxor and Karnak in Upper Egypt followed by a return to the Gizeh Plateau to behold and ponder over the lofty stone Monument of the Great Pyramid of the last remaining of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World.

On board my United Flight, I moved from seat 34 to seat 42 and immediately reflected upon my 42 years in Islam as a student of the Divine Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and how he trained and guided me upon the Path of the True Worship of Almighty God, Allah. Forty-two reversed is 24.

The 24th Surah of the Holy Qur�an is titled ��The Light�� and deals with a particular incident in the life of one of the Prophet�s wives that led to a particular case of slander against her until Allah revealed her innocence over time�and with it came the Revelation of one of the most Mystical Verses in the Holy Qur�an, known as the Verse of Light. This 35th Verse of Surah 24 is inscribed in beautiful Arabic Calligraphy in the Dome of Mosque Maryam in Chicago, Illinois, as a Sign to be studied by True Believers.

Not only are these verses to be studied in relationship to the domestic life of the Prophet and to family life in general, but it is a study that takes us into the meaning of Mary, and her son, and that of the Messiah, the Sign under which our Nation has been established and identified in the West by the Great Mahdi, Himself, Master W. Fard Muhammad.

As I boarded my plane in Heathrow Airport, walking through gate 19, a Number signifying the sign of our Resurrected Birth in the Nation of Islam, with my 42 years converted to Surah 24 becomes The Divine Light that is forever shining in my heart, Mary, Sister of Aaron, Mother of Jesus, attacked and ridiculed by the ignorant, yet chosen and beloved of God, the sign of a chosen Nation and People returning to the Most High God.

"And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to thee from thy Lord, is the Truth, and it guides into the path of the Mighty, the Praised." Holy Qur�an, Surah 34, verse 6