Among the most notable events of last month was the visit of Her Majesty Queen Misbah, wife of the sovereign of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, His august Majesty King Abdullah.
Women's circles took keen interest in this event, and hastened to the Jordanian Legation in Beirut to welcome Her Majesty Queen Misbah, to present their deepest respects, and to make the acquaintance of her noble Hashemite countenance.
At the head of the delegations was Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the Lebanese Women's Union and of the General Arab Women's Union, together with other presidents of the various associations.
The Jordanian Legation gave two luncheons for the women of note who had paid their respects to Her Majesty, who then resumed her journey to Cairo, where she is to meet some members of her esteemed family.
Accompanying Her Majesty was her personal attendant, the energetic Miss Emily Bisharat.
Her Majesty favored the magazine "The Woman's Voice" with a gracious interview, which the reader will find elsewhere in these pages.
In a gathering of men and women of letters and ladies of society, and in an atmosphere of colors and melodies, the writer Salma al-Haffar al-Kuzbari presented her first book to the literary world.
Last month, a group of the women and men of letters of this country received a family invitation to the Regent from the Syrian lady Salma al-Haffar al-Kuzbari and her husband, Dr. Nader al-Kuzbari.
At six o'clock that evening there
gathered at the Regent a bouquet of ladies around the writer Salma, among whom we recognized Miss Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the Women's Union; Mrs. Laure Tabet, president of Women's Solidarity; the writer Salma Sayegh; Mrs. Nazik Adib, one of the distinguished ladies of Tripoli; and Mrs. Edvick Shayboub, editorial secretary of this magazine. The hostess welcomed the ladies of Lebanon and its men of letters, and announced that she was donating the proceeds of this book of hers, published by Dar al-Ilm lil-Malayin, to charitable projects in Lebanon and Syria.
She then presented copies of "Hala's Diaries" as gifts to those present.
"Hala's Diaries" are in fact the memoirs of the young Salma al-Haffar herself, in the days when she was a schoolgirl, and "The Woman's Voice" will present selections from this book of "Hala's" so that the women's public may see the vitality that pours forth from the breast of this outstanding writer.
"The Woman's Voice" was unable, last month, to mark the anniversary of independence, having brought out its Mayy issue, which it devoted in its entirety to that woman of letters of genius. But we
shall not fail to note the valuable address delivered in the name of the Lebanese woman by the distinguished Mrs. Adal Alam al-Din over Radio Beirut. In it she said:
"If the Lebanese woman has the right to stand forth on the anniversary of November, it is because she earned the right to stand forth on this day by marching in the vanguard of the fighters."
"This day is not one of the ordinary days that we may pass by without pausing in reverence." "For on a day like this, the voice of right rose to proclaim the end of an era in which the Lebanese lived enslaved."
"And on this day the Lebanese woman took a stand — how noble it was, and how great!"
"She performed her patriotic duty to the fullest."
Mrs. Alam al-Din then continued, addressing her words to woman:
"The role that woman played in November 1943 — if she does not follow it with sustained effort, that role will not carry her, or the homeland, to the goal at which she aims."
The Young Muslim Women's Association has resumed the various branches of its activity, enrolling thirty girls in its club as against 15 last year.
What occupies its attention most at present is the opening of a school to combat illiteracy in the quarters deprived of that blessing. Efforts are under way to find suitable premises so that the registration of children may begin at once. It is hoped that this new institute will take in some 500 girls, among whom small boys will be admitted for very modest fees.
The Social Affairs Committee of the Lebanese Arab Women's Federation has carried out a vigorous campaign for the beautification of the city of Beirut, taking up both its practical and its theoretical sides, and has supported it with a series of talks broadcast over Radio Lebanon by a group of Lebanese ladies, their aim being to draw the attention of the Lebanese public to the importance of cleanliness and to the beauty it lends the Lebanese capital.