Shah Faruq, the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty was overthrown in the 1952 military coup and forced to abdicate. He went into exile in Italy until his death in 1965. While leaving the country he said: “The whole world is in revolt. Soon there will be only five kings left: the king of spades, the king of clubs, the king of hearts, the king of diamonds and the king of England.” Shah Faruq’s abdication is generally seen as the result of a military coup. But in reality it was the result of a global, political revolution. In the wake of the democratic revolution in the 20th century, the age of dynastic rule ended forever.

What finally remains in life are not our wishes and desires but the law of nature.

Besides having a good command over Arabic and French, Shah Faruq had studied the developments of the modern age. Acknowledging the end of dynastic rule, he was able to take his forced abdication as inevitable. That is why he was able to accept the reality of his situation. Thanks to this acceptance of matters as they stood, he saved himself from negative thinking and spent the rest of his life peacefully in exile.

This is the secret of life. What finally remains in life are not our wishes and desires but the law of nature. If man were to acknowledge this reality, he would spare himself from the pangs of anger, complaint, protest and violence.