The King Is Dead... Long Live the King

★ His Majesty King Abdulaziz Al Saud met his Lord at dawn on the ninth of November 1953, at the age of 73.

★ The Arab governments and broadcasting stations proclaimed mourning for the great departed and lowered their flags.

★ He leaves thirty sons, besides the daughters.

★ In the span of half a century he achieved for the Arabian Peninsula wonders and marvels beyond the power of any single man: he unified the Arab nation, gathered its word, and governed it with resolve, wisdom, and breadth of spirit.

★ He turned the barren desert into flourishing gardens, spread security and peace, cut roads, built airports, repaired the routes leading to the Holy Places, and encouraged building projects.

★ He provided his people with the means of a dignified livelihood and joined them to the caravan of world civilization.

★ He showed great support for the Arab cause and compassion for its calamities.

★ He bequeathed the kingship after him to his eldest son, Emir Saud, and the succession to Emir Faisal.

★ Emir Saud was proclaimed king as soon as the burial rites were concluded.

★ He is fifty-one years of age, and was his father's right arm in conducting the affairs of the realm.

★ He has fifty-three sons, besides the daughters.

★ He is graced with the loftiest character, which has made him beloved among the people.

★ He strengthened the ties among the tribes of the Hejaz and Nejd and put an end to the estrangements and personal grudges that existed in the Peninsula.

★ He has followed his father's course in bestowing generous donations and extending justice to all his subjects.

★ Today, along with the sash of kingship, weighty responsibilities fall upon the shoulders of King Saud.

★ The Arabs place great hopes in him, that he may resume the mighty works his great father began.

★ The Saudi woman places great hopes in him, that he may help her rise out of the darkness of her existence and take her by the hand along the paths of advancement and progress.

The Woman's Voice extends to the Saudi Kingdom — king, government, and people — its deepest feelings of sorrow over the grievous loss in the death of King Abdulaziz, and its congratulations to King Saud on the crown that befits his valiant head.