Too Soon, My Departed Lady (The Women's Union's Address at the Funeral of Nazira Joumblatt)

The Lebanese Women's Union took part in the funeral of the late Emira Nazira Joumblatt, whom Lebanon lost last month. The president of the Union, Mrs. Evelyne Bustros, was at the head of the delegation that took part in this national duty, and Mrs. Anissa Najjar was charged with delivering the Union's address. She spoke the following eloquent words:

Too soon, my departed lady —
the determination was still abundant, the resolve still unbending, the devotion to the service of the needy still unbridled.
The Lebanese woman still flounders, perplexed, between a man who understands her capacity and would gladly make her his equal, and another, entrenched in power, who does not see in her a complete human being and so denies her her right to life. And the Lebanese Women's Union, which has made of your deeds and your stands a lamp pointing out the right path, and a conclusive proof of the intelligence and wisdom of the Lebanese woman, feels deep sorrow and regret at the setting of your shining star.

Ladies —

When I look into the eyes of her dear daughter, I read the meaning of the loss of the virtuous mother, the mother who was a friend, the great mother. And likewise I read in the eyes of family and friends the grief and sorrow for the guide, the leader, and the friend. But today we do not weep only for a noble mother and a great friend: we weep for a state embodied in a woman.

This palace, with its mistress, was an army against oppression and aggression. How many a wrong known to the people of this region in particular was lifted from them by the great "Sitt," through her surpassing sagacity and her adroit handling of the tyrannical colonizer!

This palace was, and still is, a precinct of security that lightens the state's task.

And this domain — this woman's domain — was tended by a mother's tenderness, a sister's affection, soundness of judgment, and a penetrating eye; it neither wronged the people nor quarreled with them. So when the Lebanese Women's Union offers its condolences for the departed lady, it means the virtuous mother, and the woman who, by the excellence of her mind, was equal to great deeds — and was, for Lebanon, the equal of its best men.