# 009

This has been a month of lots of work for me. And excitement too, as I read what I’ve found in Tora-Bora’s manuscripts. It starts with some kind of explanation about the reason Bishr Ibn Al Sirri wrote it. I will try to translate it the best I can, but you must be aware that it was written many years ago, and I am not the best person to do this job.

Many of what he wrote seems to be texts taken from the Bible, but with no references like chapters or verses, as we see today. I will do the best I can to translate them, but don’t expect that someone with an Arabian background will be able to identify where you can find those texts in a modern Bible. I leave this work for you to do and perhaps tell me, so I can update my text as the readers go on identifying the scriptures. I don’t have a Bible and will not buy one, because this could call the attention of the officials when I travel to Arab countries. Yes, the Bible is not welcomed in some of them.

The manuscripts begin more or less like this:

“When I decided to write these humble notes, my first purpose was to begin a systematic study of what has called my attention in the last months. I am talking about the purpose God has of glorifying his Son, the lord Jesus Christ, and in regard to the dispensation of the fullness of the times, to bring into one the whole in the Christ, both the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth -- in him. I am sure God will accomplish his purpose according to his son because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of the prophecy.”

That word -- prophecy -- really caught my attention. You see, I live my everyday life looking for tragedies, wars, death and sorrow. If I would go after good news, I would not be able to sell my stories to the newspapers. People is looking for the ugly, the sad, the tragic, not for good things. Interesting, there seems to be an evil little thing in our hearts that rejoice in somebody else’s pain. And after seeing so much disgrace, I am very curious about the future of this Earth. I don’t believe much in those peace talking we see among my people and the jews, because sooner or latter someone will blow a bomb attached to his body in a restaurant, or the jewish army will break into Arabic neighborhoods just shooting everyone. So it called my attention when he wrote about the things that will come to this world. Lets go on reading.

“I don’t want to satisfy my intelect or someone’s else by writing these words, but bring honour to my savior. I am not sure if there are things going on around me today that could match with the events described in the scriptures as prophecy. But one thing I know for sure. The lord Jesus told his disciples that he would come back, because in the house of his father are many mansions; and if not, he would have told his disciples. But he said he would go on to prepare a place for them and if he would go and prepare for them a place, again he would come, and receive them unto himself, that where he is also may be. And he went further saying that whither he went away they had known, and the way they had known.”

Don’t ask me what all this mean. I am quite confused. In the meanwhile I begun reading an online version of the Bible to learn a little about the life of Jesus. Very interesting. So far, the conclusions I have draw are that he should be what he said he was, otherwise he was a lunatic. But nothing shows that. Such an influence that remains for centuries must have some truth behind it. Or have it? I don’t know. All this talking about coming back scares me. “Prepare a place”, “receive them”, I don’t understand much of this. By what I know, he died. And now the text talks about a way and that his disciples knew the way. Would it be dying after him?

# 008

IN MY LAST POSTING I told you about the events that made me publish this blog on the Internet. While in Islamabad, I read many parts of the manuscript, enough to make me think about lots of things. It seems to be Bishr Ibn Al Sirri comments on a series of books of what today is called the Bible – he treats them as different books. I am not used to the Bible and could not identify which part was taken from it and which one was a Bishr Ibn Al Sirri comment.

But who is this Bishr Ibn Al Sirri? All the information I got from the Internet is that he was a Nestorian Christian living in Damascus long ago. He was also a translator, and is known by his translation of what is known by the Mt. Sinai Arabic Codex 151, a manuscript dated of A. D. 867, about 200 years after the Arab conquest of the Middle East. So he was a Christian living in an Arabic world.

I am not what you could call a religious man, but I try to follow my parents’ traditions. Ok, I confess, not 100%. Perhaps 50% or less. But it was intriguing me to learn more about what this Bishr Ibn Al Sirri did. The only manuscript found translated by him is that one, which contains most of the Christian’s Bible New Testament. This one I’ve found seems to be a second and unrecorded manuscript. What a discovery!

The fact that it was discovered in a place that is undergoing war is one of the reasons I think it is not time to announce the cave’s location, even to some archeological institute or museum. The second reason is that an Arab who discovers a Christian manuscript and is influenced by it is not the best thing to happen in my neighborhood. So, let’s take a time and see how the things will develop.

Another reason of my care is the issue it covers: Prophecy. It seems that man understood what the Bible said about future events and wrote his comments. But don’t misunderstand me. It is not some kind of obscure and poetic Nostradamus prophecy, but a very clear route to understand events that were ahead of his time, but that seems to be very similar to what we are seeing around.

Now that I know and you know what the manuscript is all about, I will try to read it very carefully while traveling around and covering world news for the newspaper I work for. Perhaps with the knowledge I have of recent world history, I can find a parallel of the events described in the manuscript with what is going on around us.

But one thing I can assure you of is that Afghanistan has no important part in it. Maybe it is because it is just part of a whole and is just one of the things that will have influence in the main events. Afghanistan is only a consequence of World Trade Center attack. But in the big picture, even WTC will be seen as the image I saw today in CNN News of that small place crashing against an office in Tampa, Florida, piloted by a 15-year-old boy. Or will not be seen at all. I could bet the Euro issue is much more important and will have a much higher impact in trimming the world’s shape from what we have known until now.

Oh, yes, before I leave you surely will want to know what happened to my notebook, because I said that saving the manuscripts on a backup service on Internet was an wise idea. Don’t worry. It was not stolen, a missile did not hit it, nor I was abducted by an UFO and had to leave my notebook connected to the spaceship I used to escape. Nothing of that sort happened. A virus. Yes, one single and vicious virus left me with a blank clean HD in my notebook. And this is the way I leave Islamabad. In my next postings I will tell you what Bishr Ibn Al Sirri wrote and what I think they mean. As soon as I have time to recover my files, reinstall Windows and all the software. Perhaps this time I will leave Louis Armstrong’s Beautiful World out. There is not much of a promise like that in a short-term span of history.