Abraha (also spelled Abreha) (died after AD 553; r. 525—at least 553) also known as 'Abraha al-Ashram (in Arabic أبرهة الأشرم) or Abraha b. as-Saba'h, was an Ethiopian Christian viceroy in southern Arabia for the Kingdom of Aksum, and later became the King of Saba' (Yemen).
Procopius records that Abraha was once the slave of a Roman merchant at Adulis, while al-Tabari says that he was related to the Axumite royal family..
Dhu Nuwas, the Jewish Himyarite ruler of Yemen, in the period c. 523-525 or c. 518-20 launched military operations against the Aksumites Christians and their local Arab Christian allies. The Aksumites in Zafar were killed, their fortresses in the Yemeni highlands destroyed, and Najran (Saudi Arabia) sacked.
Najran fell in 518 or 523 and many members of the Himyarite Christian community were put to death evoking great sympathy throughout the Christian regions of the Orient and prompting an Aksumite military intervention aided by a Byzantine fleet first made in 518/523.
Abraha was either one of the commanders or a member of one of the armies led by King Kaleb of Axum against Dhu Nuwas. In al-Tabari's history, 'Abraha is said to have been the commander of the second army sent by Kaléb after the first failed, led by 'Ariat.
Plot
Beyond Borders is an epic tale of the turbulent romance between two star-crossed lovers set against the backdrop of the world's most dangerous hot spots. Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie stars as Sarah Jordan, an American living in London in 1984. She is married to Henry Bauford son of a wealthy British industrialist, when she encounters Nick Callahan a renegade doctor, whose impassioned plea for help to support his relief efforts in war-torn Africa moves her deeply. As a result, Sarah embarks upon a journey of discovery that leads to danger, heartbreak and romance in the far corners of the world.
Keywords: 1980s, 1990s, adultery, afghanistan, africa, airplane, airport, ambush, american, amputee
In A Place She Didn't Belong, Among People She Never Knew, She Found A Way To Make A Difference.
Where hope survives.
Nick Callahan: If I could live this life again, I would never leave you for a second.
Sarah Jordan: Never forget what took me a lifetime to learn; you have only one heart, be true to it.
Nick Callahan: I came here to help these people, and the only way I can do that is if I transport guns.::Sarah Jordan: You don't have to transport guns to help people.::Nick Callahan: You do here.
Nick Callahan: Are you wearing perfume... in the fucking desert?
Sarah Jordan: Why do you never say my name?::Nick Callahan: Sorry?::Sarah Jordan: You never say my name. Why?::Nick Callahan: pauses - What's the first thing you do when you get a cold?::Sarah Jordan: What?::Nick Callahan: What's the first thing you do when you get a cold?::Sarah Jordan: Uh... chicken soup, aspirin, scotch...::Nick Callahan: You never just have the cold?::Sarah Jordan: I don't know what...::Nick Callahan: interrupts - Taken nothing. Just have the cold?::Sarah Jordan: No::Nick Callahan: No, and that's us, right? We drown it. Kill it. Numb it, anything not to feel. You know, when I was a doctor in London, no one ever said 'medahani'. They don't thank you like they thank you here. Cos here they feel everything, straight from God. There's no drugs, no painkillers. It's the weirdest, purest thing - suffering. And when you've seen that kind of courage in a li... - pauses, tears well up -... in a child... How could you ever want to do anything but just hold him in your arms? You remember that boy in London, JoJo?::Sarah Jordan: Yes of course::Nick Callahan: He was my first save, 10 years old. So thin he could barely stand. But he still found the strength the bury the rest of his family. We have no idea what courage is... He used to write me little notes. He helped me in the clinic. He was good. He was sweet, he was good. He wanted to be like me, I liked that. I mean, it was silly and childish, but it made me feel good about myself. So I took him with me to London, you know, my talisman, my courageous Africa... - pauses - How could I be so bloody stupid? How could I be so totally selfish? The point is... he was my friend. He had a name. So now I HAVE to remember him. If everybody I lose has a name...
Nick Callahan: You're not wearing perfume.
Sarah Jordan: Perhaps we are all refugees from something, but I see now there is nothing to fear, that the world we hold onto, the lives we cherish, are a part of something greater, something more. When I look at my children I see it so clearly, that hope, that chance of life, and I know it's worth fighting for.
[first lines]::Sarah Jordan: I wonder, do we all know where we belong? And if we do, in our hearts, why do we so often do nothing about it? There must be more to this life, a purpose for us all, a place to belong. You were my home. I knew from the moment I met you, that night, so many years ago.
[last lines]::Sarah Jordan: You have always been with me. Your courage, your smile, your damned stubbornness. There has never been any distance between us, and there never will be. I love you Nick. I love you.