Sitting on the coach carrying me towards Cardiff down M5, I was thinking of my friends and acquaintances in the capital of Wales. I looked forward to meeting them. There were two exceptions, though. One was a politician friend of mine whom I owe some money* and whom I decided not to contact before I repay the debt (no, it’s not as simple as you think: he is a generous person and I guess he’d be more happy to see me that get his money back; my decision was to motivate myself, not to spare myself an awkward moment – more a punishment than an evasion. Deep down, you should know, I am a man of honour: I may forget to repay my debts, but I never forget that I have them).
The other possible meeting caused me much more anxiety. I was to see after many years one of my closest friends in Cardiff and one of the most upright men I’ve ever met in my life. He was Muslim and had lived for many years away from his family. When I first met him he had just got engaged to his long-time flame during a recent visit to his native country. He had known the girl for many years, but until the formal engagement he had never had been with her on her own. I smiled - sympathetically – at the stories of their rare encounters and all the chaperoning by various siblings, cousins and friends that needed to be arranged. Thousands of miles away and separated for long months from her, he had remained faithful to her despite many unprovoked temptations. This is what he told me and this is what I saw during the time we worked together. Conscientious, hard-working, truthful and brave – Adnan was a true Muslim gentleman.
Apart from warm family and neighbourhood, we talked about Islam and Christianity. We spent long hours discussing issues, each of us respecting the other one's deep conviction of the superiority of his religion. He also told me a lot about his country, the great city he came from and his family.
I grew to know his folks. It was a close-knit and loving family. His dad was a lecturer at some college, his mom - a powerful and higly respected figure in the family - a housewife. I can't remember what his brothers did, but all in all, it was a family I could relate to (including the slightly over-bearing mom); a family that went through the normal ups and downs that tend to happen to close-knit, loving, families across the world; ups and downs through which the family I know best has gone too – with one exception. And I nearly shivered at the thought of what his voice would sound like, what his eyes would look like, what his thoughts would be like when I asked him about one kind of those ‘downs’ that has just crashed - or rather: has been crashing - on the heads of his family.
Apart from warm family and neighbourhood, we talked about Islam and Christianity. We spent long hours discussing issues, each of us respecting the other one's deep conviction of the superiority of his religion. He also told me a lot about his country, the great city he came from and his family.
I grew to know his folks. It was a close-knit and loving family. His dad was a lecturer at some college, his mom - a powerful and higly respected figure in the family - a housewife. I can't remember what his brothers did, but all in all, it was a family I could relate to (including the slightly over-bearing mom); a family that went through the normal ups and downs that tend to happen to close-knit, loving, families across the world; ups and downs through which the family I know best has gone too – with one exception. And I nearly shivered at the thought of what his voice would sound like, what his eyes would look like, what his thoughts would be like when I asked him about one kind of those ‘downs’ that has just crashed - or rather: has been crashing - on the heads of his family.
When I phoned our former employer for whom I expected Adnan to be still working (he was a very loyal man in all ways), I was told he had left some time ago. “Do you know where he is now?” I enquired. The reply which I got was even more painful than meeting him and looking into his eyes would be:
“Back in Aleppo.”
A prayer for Adnan & his folks: Allah, let them survive and enjoy peace. Should Your, oh All-Powerful, will be different, let them enjoy eternal happiness with their Christian friends.
*Actually I should feel quite good about it: at long last I owe money to a politican, and not the usual other way round.
(photo: via euronews.com by REUTERS/SANA)
