AP Photo

Many images from the court verdict session of the Hosni Mubarak trial last Saturday remain vivid, and carry political weight: the strong statement by the judge, the defendants behind bars, the packed courtroom, and the scuffles after the verdict was read. But far and away the most powerful image that stays in my head and will not go away – maybe I do not want it to go away, so I can savor it for some more days or weeks – is that of Mubarak himself.The image of the former dictator speaks poignantly to the three key dimensions of his rise and fall: his years of dictatorial rule that demeaned and degraded Egypt and its people; the popular revolt that overthrew him and sent him to jail to stand trial; and the verdict that found him guilty and sentenced him to life in...