Al-Azraq… Sunset

Ambassador Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim
From my window at dawn, I watched the disc of the sun struggling to emerge from the grip of a tropical cloud that had closed around it. Gradually, too, its rays began attempting to climb the tall buildings of this great city.
In the neighbouring street, the district slowly began to stir to life. Today is not a public holiday on the country’s calendar, yet it marks one of the most significant moments in its history. The seventh of July, or Saba Saba in Swahili, commemorates the famous 1990 movement against President Arap Moi’s rule. This event profoundly influenced the subsequent political developments in this country.
For us, however, it is a day of sorrow, a sunset, and the anniversary of the passing of “Al-Azraq”.
What can I possibly say in describing his virtues and the legacy he left behind? That is a boundless sea with no shore.
Our beloved Ambassador Abdullah Al-Azraq, may God have mercy upon him, was truly one of a kind: courageous, discerning, eloquent, bold, sincere, dignified and deeply respected.
He possessed a remarkable command of language and a poetic beauty. His words could be a sharp and decisive sword, yet he was also affection and compassion, coolness and peace.
When death sinks its claws and fate chooses the finest jewel from the necklace; when Abu Izza departs, as all remarkable people eventually do—those who remain in our lives as enduring rituals of memory and remembrance—we turn in supplication to Almighty God.
We pray that He enfolds our dear departed friend in His boundless mercy and abundant forgiveness, grants him a place in the highest gardens of Paradise, and bestows patience and consolation upon his family, his colleagues and all those who knew his worth.
God has given glad tidings to those who remain patient and who, when afflicted by calamity, say:
“Indeed, we belong to God, and indeed to Him we shall return.”
There is neither power nor strength except through God, the Most High, the Almighty.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=15670