فِي وَسَطِ كَرْبَلَاءَ فِي الْعِرَاقِ مَقْهًى قَدِيمٌ، اسْمُهُ «مَقْهَى السَّيِّد مَجِيد». عُمْرُهُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ سَنَةً، وَفِيهِ أَرَائِكُ قَدِيمَةٌ مِنَ الْخَشَبِ. يَجْلِسُ فِيهِ الْأَصْدِقَاءُ، وَيَشْرَبُونَ الشَّايَ، وَيَتَحَدَّثُونَ. فِي هَذَا الْمَقْهَى لَا إِنْتَرْنِتَ. وَلَا يَلْعَبُ النَّاسُ فِيهِ الدُّومِينُو. يَقُولُ أَحْمَد مَجِيد، صَاحِبُ الْمَقْهَى: لَا نُرِيدُ أَنْ تَكُونَ الْجَلْسَةُ مَيِّتَةً. وَيَتَحَدَّثُ النَّاسُ هُنَا عَنْ أَسْعَارِ الطَّحِينِ، وَعَنِ الِانْتِخَابَاتِ، وَعَنِ الْعَالَمِ. مَالِك الشَّرْع شَاعِرٌ شَابٌّ، وَهُوَ يَجْلِسُ فِي الْمَقْهَى دَائِمًا. يَقُولُ: هُنَا نَشْعُرُ بِالْعَلَاقَاتِ الْقَدِيمَةِ الْجَمِيلَةِ، وَبِالْأَمَانِ وَالصِّدْقِ.
In the centre of Karbala in Iraq there is an old café, called “Sayyid Majid’s Café”. It is more than seventy years old, and it has old wooden benches. Friends sit in it, drink tea and talk. In this café there is no internet. And people do not play dominoes in it. Ahmed Majid, the café owner, says: we don’t want the time together to be lifeless. And people here talk about the price of flour, about the elections, and about the world. Malik Al-Sharaa is a young poet, and he always sits in the café. He says: here we feel the beautiful old friendships, and safety and honesty.