"Be Joyful This Day"

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians poured into Cairo by train, bus and rattling taxi. They swarmed over the capital like locusts, swamped the hotels, took temporary shelter in the city's mosques and jammed the streets laughing, arguing and anticipating. One clear, chilly morning last week, as the first light fingered the minarets of the Mohammed Ali Mosque east of the city, they headed for Cairo's immense, open Liberation Square. They had come to celebrate a birthday: six months of Soldier Naguib's reign.

At 8:30 a.m., a light blue Plymouth convertible, top down, rolled into the square and was greeted by a spine-tingling roar. Major General Mohammed Naguib, dressed in simple army tunic, snapped an answering salute. Cannons boomed, then over the loudspeakers came Naguib's voice: "In the name of the people, in the name of its pains and sorrows, in the name of its rights to a free and honest life, I proclaim the birth of an organization which will cement our unity." With that, 22 old political parties died and Egypt became, in effect, a single-party dictatorship guided by Naguib's new Hayat el Tahrir, the Liberation Movement.

Three-Year Dictatorship. For 20 minutes Naguib spoke, while overhead jets ripped across rooftops. Then at a signal the crowd rose and repeated after him Egypt's new creed, the Liberation Oath: "Almighty God, you love the strong and detest the meek. You spread your mercy over those who prefer to die in dignity for the sake of liberty to a life of dishonor in a realm of bondage . . . We swear by Thy Holy Name to work to our utmost [for a country] free from wicked passions and compatible with what is right and just . . . Our motto shall always be unity, discipline and work. Almighty God, best of witnesses, be our witness." With a mighty cheer, the crowd thus pledged themselves to three years of Naguib's dictatorship in democracy's name.

"Take confidence and be joyful this day," said Naguib, and the crowd obeyed. It surged through Cairo's streets, past lampposts painted in the new liberation colors (red for the liberation struggle, black for the darkness of the past, white for hope), past huge reproductions of TIME'S cover portrait of Naguib. So began four days of rejoicing which also marked another milestone: exactly one year had elapsed since the bloody, costly anti-foreign riots which hastened the fall of the old regime. Now through Cairo's streets a gay throng marched, munching rice and meat sandwiches, heading for special football games and swimming meets, watching parades and enjoying the carnival atmosphere.

An Easier Life. "No longer will anyone have selfish aims . . . The nation will be given a free and noble life. Everything will be done to see that no one is hungry or ignorant." So proclaimed Naguib's new society. The promises ran far ahead of performance: so far only a handful of Egypt's fellahin, who are among the world's most ill-treated people, have begun to share in Naguib's land redistribution. But one benefit Naguib has already bestowed: the government has made sharp cuts in the cost of basic foodstuffs and clothing. Life has begun to ease up. There was no disputing last week that Naguib is still Egypt's most popular citizen.

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