The Citadel, Cairo, Egypt.

He was walking out of The Citadel as I walked in, carrying his baby carefully in his arms like she was a pot of gold. A white blanket rests gently on her head, shielding her from the vicious Egyptian sun. I stopped in my tracks to marvel at her chubby cheeks and he immediately pull the white cloth off her and presented her before me like she was a majestic work of art. He didn’t just invite me to appreciate the beauty of his child, he wanted me to record it.

The proud Egyptian father showing off his baby to the world

In that moment, I was more in awe of him than I was of the dark-haired baby. Every pore on his body was oozing with pride. Just look at him, study his honest eyes and his gentle smile, this is a man who is immensely, eminently, truly, proud of his child. It was the kind of smile that exudes so much joy and sincerity, it reverberates in your soul.

There was no reason for a father to be strolling in the hot sun with his new-born in somewhere as touristic as The Citadel, but he was eager to show his child the world; and the world his child.

I bumped into this proud father in the September of 2009. Every now and then this father-daughter moment enters my mind, showing me the true joy of being a parent.

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