In Memory of Daouk

... The country's loss, in the passing of the late Omar Bey Daouk, was a great loss.

It is the loss of the greatest human pillar in this country.

A great man, who lived a great life, working with his heart, his mind, and his money — sincere, striving, generous, forbearing.

The lives of great men are not chronicled by the number of years they lived, nor even by the money they spent or amassed; rather, their lives are immortalized by the measure of what they gave of this life to people.

And the great Daouk gave much of his life and of his very self. He gave with a generosity beyond all generosity. He gave of himself and of his money, joining the heart's giving to the pocket's giving — and so he was great.

Omar Daouk, God rest him, belonged to no family, no sect, and no party; he belonged to this country, working for its sake, and so he gathered hearts around him from all sects and parties, which honored in him that noble Lebanese human being.

The memorial gatherings that the country has been holding, from the day of his death until today, are proof that the late Omar Bey Daouk was to this homeland its dearest and most devoted son..

May his life and his works be a lamp for all the men of this country.