Resala and Dr Sherif

I remember Dr Abdel Aziz Hamuda once told us in a lecture at Cairo University that one way to know a good work of art from a bad one is that with a good work of art you can read it over and over again, each time discovering new things and experiencing the emotions once again as if you were reading it for the first time, while in the case of a substandard work you read it only once then it's 'burnt' and will never want to read it again. I remembered this yesterday when I was at Resala, Masr El Gedida branch, listening to Dr Sherif's same introductory session for the third time! Resala is an NGO and Dr Sherif is its CEO.

I told a friend of mine about Resala the day before and he expressed interest in visiting. I told him I was going to Resala the following day, so he wanted to come and see. The following day, which was yesterday, we went together to the Masr El Gedida branch of Resala and by coincidence it was the day, and time, when Dr Sherif was giving his biweekly introductory session about Resala for new volunteers wishing to get introduced to the activities of Resala. The interesting thing is that such a session provided by Dr Sherif is always more or less the same, he mentions the same stories in almost the same sequence and says basically the same things in every session, of course those attending the session are different people every time. But sometimes a person attends this same session more than once, and that was my case yesterday. It was actually my third time to attend this session by Dr Sherif, and the amazing thing was that I felt his words deeply and I was listening with great interest despite that fact that I've heard what he was saying twice before! That is what brought to my mind Dr Hamuda's words about works of art and the simple rule one may use to differentiate between a good and a bad one. Even though this sesson of Dr Sherif cannot be defined as a work of art, yet indeed this literary rule of quality applies to it.