When Death Fades

The splendid address delivered by Mr. Michel Chiha in memory of his late friend Abdul Hamid Karami:

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Were I told: here he is, coming through this door, I would believe it. Were I told: he is in this hall, I would call him by his name — so much is he, for me, still alive. A man does not die when he leaves behind such a memory, and a man does not die when we cherish him with such tenderness.

Death is not that we turn to dust; death is to fade away in minds and hearts. Few among men were of this man's character. Few were of the like of his honesty, his simplicity, his truthfulness. Few among men had the like of his upright speech, striking upon the ear with the force of conviction, pure and transparent as the mother of springs.

Were I told: here he comes, I would not hesitate to believe it. His voice and his gestures are still familiar to every one of us. And I know that he returns from time to time, and we find him in the midst of those he loved and of those who love him. And I see him, as each of you sees him, radiant of face, hands outstretched, smiling as he repeats words of affection and welcome.

Living affection pierces the veil of death. And what is death but a life deeper-plumbed than life...

The persons who are dear to us and who depart from us do not die, for the memories they have left behind, and the tenderness they have left within us, form their breath and stir their lungs and pour light into their eyes empty of life.

When we no longer believe in death, death becomes but a song, the awaiting of a return, a sunset heralding the dawn and the morning.

The moment love appears, death fades; faith floats above death, and hope lights the abode of eternal rest. If there is anything that does not perish, it is love — love, which is the end of the soul's existence and its essence.

The friend we mourn was adorned with the loftiest virtues of men. He was adorned with courage, the spirit of fairness, asceticism, and disdain for worldly things. He championed the weak and feared none but God. He walked his road wrapped about with the blessing of the people. He was ever ready to give his life for a cause of right. And we are his witnesses. We saw him on the field of action. We lived long hours at his side, and he would open his heart to us.

We knew him in power, a model of the balance that power demands — never fawning, never boastful, never haughty. And we knew him in the bitterness of disappointment: proud of soul, generous, respected, unchanging and unaltering, referring every matter to the will of God; patient in trial, silent in victory, rising high by the greatness of his soul. We knew him to carry within his breast a soul as strong in adversity as it was generous in prosperity. We do not behold many men like Abdul Hamid Karami — "with his like, Time is a miser indeed."

It is enough for a man to have clasped such a person once in his arms to enjoy a feeling of assurance and strength. He who is with him does not fear life; it would be easier for him to cast himself into the sea than to abandon his friend. And from beyond death he teaches the sons of his country steadfastness, respect for pledges, and sacrifice for the sake of principle.

Such teachings and such examples are among the things preserved in the heritage of a nation. This man, deep-rooted in his origin, loved life as much as he knew how to renounce it. He found his rest in his Lord, and in his Lord we seek him.

And in an age when doubt has assailed men's minds, his faith was great, unshakable, far-reaching unto infinity.

The place that Abdul Hamid Karami occupied — where is the man to fill it? We understand that Tripoli weeps for him; but it is not Tripoli alone that weeps for him: Beirut, and the Mountain, and this country — and this people, in all its different faces, hears the lamentation and the elegies for him; and the news of his death, across Lebanon and to the far bounds of the Arab world, had its distant echo.

God has granted his noble family to find, in such a measure of love and respect, the fullest means of consolation; and He has granted his sons and all who come after him to succeed one another in his virtues and merits. May his memory be an example to them, and may the Almighty Lord bestow upon them the balm of solace — not in the face of an exemplary death, but in the face of the life that endures.

O God, make his soul rejoice in the attainment of its hopes. And praise be to God, whose judgment is neither turned back nor revoked.