The Last Word

A baby girl called Ahlam was born on April 17, 1946. The infant, born with a sparkle in her eye, had magnificent Oriental beauty and a smile that simply, would not go away. She came from a wealthy and prestigious family that boasted of heritage and traced its roots back to the beginning of civilization. The hardships of life, however, made Ahlam age quickly. Very unwillingly, she stopped breast feeding early, and learned to walk during her sixth month. She had to talk by the age of one.

The theme of this issue is “Syrian Expatriates” due to the upcoming Expatriate Conference, to be held in Damascus in May 2007. Many of us have been expatriates at one point or another during our careers. I it the description in 1996-2002 while studying at AUB and doing my PhD in Great Britain.

During that period, enchanted by the incentives of becoming an expatriate for life, I applied for numerous jobs abroad and was accepted for every single one of them. I was sometimes even offered jobs without me actually seeking them. Among the opportunities I turned down—or some would say ‘missed’—was that of researcher at Westminster University in London, journalist at the UK headquarters of al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, other publications in Qatar, the Arab Center for Unity Studies in Lebanon, the Arab Documentation Center at AUB (where I worked briefly as an analyst), Haigazian University in Beirut, and more recently, at the Syrian Embassy in Washington DC.

I have always been interested in ‘role models.’ Whenever I conduct a personal interview with famous Syrians, I always wrap up with one question, “Who are your inspirational figures; who are your role models in life?” A role model by definition can be a friend or a family member, a living celebrity, or a long gone iconic figure. I have got-ten a colorful variety of answers over the years. Most people usually say “my father.” Duraid Lahham, however, said; “my mother!” Ambassador Imad Moustapha said it was his great-grandfather Abdul Rahman Kawakbi, among others, and Maestro Sulhi al-Wadi. The former ambassador and officer Suhayl al-Ashi said it was the late President Shukri al-Quwatli. Expatriate Minister Buthaina Shaaban said it was the late President Hafez al-Assad. Mohammad al-Maghhout said it was Mohammad al-Maghout. If I were asked the same question, my answer would be, in addition to both my mother and father, the late poet Nizar Qabbani and former President Quwatli. As for ‘inspirational figures’ in my life, I would name Munir al-Ajlani, a scholar and politician from the 1930s who introduced me to the world of Syrian history, Professor Samir Seikaley of AUB, who made me love history at large, and my friend Abdulsalam Haykal, who encouraged and helped me write my first book when we were students at the Faculty of Political Science at AUB; a seemingly crazy task for two 19-year olds.