Some leaders make history, remaining in the memory of nations for centuries, thanks to their ability to turn threats into opportunities for their people. Among these leaders is Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Ottoman commander who defeated the Europeans. Other leaders erase kingdoms, as it happened with King Faisal II, the last king of Iraq. Between these two extremes lie many paradoxes that warrant examination to understand how events unfold and remain in the collective memory. Following these two stories, there is a tale of a creature greatly wronged by humanity despite its immense service to them. Whenever people want to describe someone as foolish, they call him a donkey, while this creature is far more intelligent than they could imagine. In 1538, all of Europe assembled the largest naval fleet in history, led by Andrea Doria, the greatest navigator of his time.
On the opposite shore was the Ottoman admiral, Hayreddin Barbarossa, known by several names, including Khidr ibn Yaqub and Khidr Reis. In 1533, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent appointed him commander of the entire Ottoman Navy. In 1538, Europe conspired to invade the Ottoman Empire. They assembled a fleet of 300 warships, while the Ottomans possessed only 120 vessels.
According to military theories at the time, the confrontation was considered definite suicide. Barbarossa’s mission was to repel the European invasion. Everyone expected the Ottomans to be defeated before the battle even began. Barbarossa possessed a secret that European leaders had not read in their books. This commander exploited his knowledge of wind patterns to wage a battle that was successful by all accounts. He waited for the moment the wind died down and the massive, heavy European ships came to a standstill, paralyzed in the open sea. Barbarossa ordered his men to row by hand, and with lightning speed, the small Muslim ships swooped down on the European fleet. It was not a battle, but a massacre of ships that could not defend themselves.
Within hours, Barbarossa crushed the Holy Alliance, which was blessed by the Pope. Then, European commander Andrea Doria fled into the darkness of night, leaving the Mediterranean to Muslim dominance for nearly 300 years. Thanks to this man, not a single Crusader ship dared to cross the sea without the permission of the Ottoman state. Barbarossa is dead, but his glory still resonates across the seas up to this day. Whenever Turkish warships pass his mausoleum in Beşiktaş, they fire their cannons and salute to this legendary commander. Barbarossa, the ‘Red Beard’ (one of his nicknames), is gone, but his famous saying, “Whoever controls the sea can dominate the world,” still echoes in the ears of every sailor.
The most expensive betrayal in history
In 1958, Faisal II, the last king of Iraq, was 23 years old. He was known for his enlightened mind and his heart that beat with love for his country. He studied at the finest universities in Europe and returned with dreams of modernizing his nation, reducing British influence, and building a modern state. He trusted his army officers so much that he treated them like close friends. For a brief period, Iraq seemed to be heading toward a bright future, but the army officers were meeting at night, secretly plotting against the king who trusted them. At dawn on July 14, tanks surrounded the royal palace. The ruling family woke up to the sounds of soldiers storming the palace and the din of gunfire. The king and his family were dragged to the palace courtyard, where they were all shot. This, in short, is the story of the last enlightened king of Iraq.
The wronged donkey
The donkey is the creature we have most wronged by labeling it as stupid, while in fact, it possesses an amazing biological design, adapted to serve us in the harshest conditions and on mountainous roads. If a donkey’s hooves were like those of a horse, it would slip and perish. The Creator equipped it with hooves that act as a four-wheel drive system to grip the tiniest rocky edges. To enable it to carry our heavy loads, God gave the donkey a steely spine and a dense muscular mass. A donkey can carry twice its own weight, and for long distances. When its body temperature rises under the scorching sun, the donkey can cool its blood using its ears, which act as an air-cooling system to expel the heat.
The hot blood passes through a network of tiny capillaries in the ears, cooling the air, which then returns cool to protect the brain. When a donkey stops suddenly, we accuse it of stubbornness, when in fact it is saving a life. The donkey has a system for assessing risks. It will not take a single step if it senses that the ground is unsafe or that the load is beyond its capacity. Among the rugged mountains where humans often lose their way, this animal possesses an extraordinary memory and a biological navigation system that remembers the details of the route for years. Lebanese folk historian Salam Al-Rassi said that during the Ottoman era, the caravan route from Sidon to Marjeyoun extended as far as the Khardali Bridge on the Litani River in South Lebanon.
The government decided to construct a road from the Khardali Bridge to Marjeyoun, traversing rugged and steep terrain. A donkey was chosen. It was brought from Marjeyoun and released at the Khardali Bridge. The donkey followed it, marking the route all the way to Marjeyoun. The engineer of the Beirut Governorate in the 19th century was the one who enlisted the donkey to construct the road, as the caravans were pulled by animals. Therefore, the road was designed and paved according to the donkey’s engineering principles and design. Up to this day, the Marjeyoun road remains the road designed by the donkey.
