In Memory of the Martyrs

The Lebanese, government and people, celebrated the memory of the righteous martyrs. The writer Mrs. Hanneh Shahin delivered the woman's word, which we publish below:

We gather today in this hallowed place, as in every year, to commemorate those blessed heroes who died as martyrs upon the altar of patriotism, offering themselves as a sacrifice to redeem the dear homeland. All the Arab lands may rightly bow in reverence to their memory, and the towering mountains of Lebanon may rightly bend their heads in awe and veneration. The Arab countries in their entirety today shed burning tears of grief and sorrow for those shining stars that blazed yesterday in the sky of patriotism, until the hands of the wicked pelted them with the arrows of tyranny and despotism and made them dwellers of these graves. Those wicked men who stopped their ears against the voice of right, and whose hearts turned to stone against human feeling. They thought that by destroying these innocents they would destroy the Arab nation, so that none would ever rise for it again and no rebel would ever revolt. But they did not know that in burying those souls they were only burying seeds of goodly stock in soil of goodly growth, which die for a span of time and then return to life, growing and bearing fruit in abundance. We began to reap the fruits of those seeds from the moment Lebanon awoke from its slumber and struggled, and won its independence upon the shoulders of the heroes of today, who labor to complete the mission our martyrs began — that mission which aims at bringing forth a free country enjoying full independence, holding rank and respect among the other countries. This is the goal to which every nation aspires in whose sons' veins runs the blood of true life. And every nation that does not sacrifice for the sake of its independence and its dignity remains a stage for the ambitions and influence of the foreigner. Do you hear what I hear? I hear a voice from the world of infinity, from the world of eternity, saying:

Tread softly — I think the crust of the earth is nothing but these bodies

Yes, noble sons of my homeland. This soil upon which you walk is mingled with those hallowed particles, the remains of the bodily frames of our immortal martyrs. Here, in this blessed spot, rest the proud souls that knew the delight of struggle in the cause of freedom, and preferred the gallows and death to surrender to humiliation and disgrace. From this spot I hear voices calling out and saying: guard your independence, work to strengthen it, and take care lest a foreign hand corrupt it and rob you of its sweetness.

Let us pause a moment and ask ourselves what we have done and prepared in the field of national struggle. Upon the sons of Lebanon — great and small, men and women, government and people — lie responsibilities that must be discharged with complete sincerity in building the nation's being. We must all work in the field of patriotism, uninfluenced by personal, sectarian, or party interests, for the homeland belongs to all and stands above all. We must set before our eyes the raising of the country's level in every respect, so that we may write a golden history that days and years will not efface, and a glory the storms of wicked passions will not shake. Thereby we shall prove to the whole world that the Arab countries are able to govern themselves by themselves, cooperating in the various national fields, working to raise the level of every one of their parts in a spirit of love and cooperation. This is the message of our martyrs — complete it.

We now stand at the threshold of the parliamentary elections; let every patriot strive to make them free and honest, so that material gain may not dominate men's thinking and they hire out their consciences for love of material profit. Let the aim of all in these elections be to bring forth a sound, sincere bloc whose only care is the betterment of the country — politically and socially, in health and in economy. Thereby we shall have completed the message of the martyrs who died that we might live.

And you, O souls looking down upon us from the heaven of immortality and loftiness, pour into all our hearts the spirit of concord, cooperation, and sacrifice, and teach us a lesson from the lessons of true patriotism. Remind us of the many duties and the numerous responsibilities that face us in our national struggle, which call us to unite our ranks and expend our efforts. We are all attentive ears to your lofty message, which we labor to fulfill in every one of the Arab countries. On this occasion we do not forget the souls of the many martyrs who met their death in the struggle for the sake of Palestine, which still suffers and struggles to free itself from the hand of unjust Zionism. Unite your ranks, O sons of Lebanon and sons of all the Arab lands. Work with one hand and one heart, for the future is yours.