A bullet that whisked and a bullet that hit

“Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.”

— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

The day breaks.

You open your news feed not just for headlines, but for the next episode of the human drama on planet Earth—a show in which we are all unwilling actors. The stage is vast, the script unseen, and yet every morning we tune in.

Did I just borrow from Shakespeare? Perhaps. But the play is real.

This episode begins with a headline: Charlie Kirk is shot.
I had never heard of Charlie Kirk. A few minutes on Wikipedia gave me a sketch of who he was. Then I opened Twitter—and there it was: his execution, broadcast to millions. It felt ritualistic, almost ancient—an echo of the Mayan sacrifices Mel Gibson captured in Apocalypto.

A shot is fired.
Charlie Kirk’s body slumps, lifeless, as a fountain of blood erupts from his neck.

Watching this unfold in real time, a thought crossed my mind: Now Americans may glimpse what Palestinians endure daily. For them, it is not just a single bullet—most of the ammunition dropped on Gaza weighs over 500 pounds, raining down day after day.

Returning to the image of Charlie Kirk, I reflected more on his life and who he was.

Today marks the fifteenth day since his death. And since then, I have often thought of Donald Trump. He, too, could have fallen, but for him the bullet merely whisked by, brushing his ear like a ghostly kiss.

I am convinced that the same forces stood behind both moments—the one that struck Kirk and the one that spared Trump.

For Trump, the near miss was not random chance. It was a warning: This is what awaits you if you persist with your pre-election defiance.

But let us walk back down memory lane and remember those for whom the bullet did not whisk away:

• Abraham Lincoln

• John F. Kennedy

• Martin Luther King Jr.

And beyond America, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan.

The truth is, leaders who carry agendas capable of shaking the system often face the bullet. Obama also spoke in superlatives…about freedom about change…gave people hope but he was a coward. As the saying goes he must have been shown the video of Kennedy…Obama was not made of the mud that Iqbal mentioned in his Jawab-eShikwa . 

Tarbiat Aam Tau Hai, Jauhar-e-Qabil Hi Nahin
Jis Se Taamir Ho Aadam Ki Yeh Woh Gil Hi Nahin

betrayal of Obama brought us Trump…in his first term they just never let him work…it was Russia gate and that’s it…Trump at that time turned out just another dumb rich realtor who didn’t have good answer for anything…they brought a half dead guy to replace him…the 2nd time just to make sure and cut to the chase Trump had to made understood where things stand and who is the Boss. And so a bullet grazed him, and that was enough. The fire that once made him dangerous was extinguished. He surrendered to the line he once resisted.

In the end, the bullet is not only a weapon—it is a test. It asks whether a person values comfort more than conviction, survival more than truth. Those who fall become immortal, their light carried forward by history. Those who bend live on, but only as shadows of what they might have been.

The human spirit is more lethal than an assassin’s bullet. It is the same spirit that defies empire—not only on battlefields, but in moments of personal courage. Muhammad Ali embodied it when he refused to be drafted to kill “yellow people halfway around the world,” declaring that his conscience would not serve an unjust war. His defiance made him greater than any victory in the ring.

The Palestinians remind us of this every day. Their courage shows that even in the face of overwhelming force, the human spirit can burn brighter than any weapon. To take the bullet is not to die, but to prove that life’s essence outlives the body.

“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
— Khalil Gibran