Were Your Wishes Fulfilled During the Past Year?

What do some of life's successful people answer?!

Rashid Karami, Edmond Rabbath, Ibtihaj Kaddoura, Riad Taha, and Loreen Rihani

A reportage by: Majida Attar

Wishes... are like children... the pieces of one's heart! A person lulls them... tends them and nurtures them... watches over them with a sleepless eye.. and tireless hands... fears for them from every harm... and witnesses the completion of their growth and development... with a contented, satisfied... tranquil eye!

And the day a person is struck in one of his wishes... it is as though he were struck in the dearest of his children... And how happy he is the day a wish comes true for him... you see him, having gained confidence in himself... and strength and resolve to press on toward the loftier aim and the greater mission...

And you, my lady reader.. did you think, as you tore off the calendar's last leaf.. of which of your cherished wishes were fulfilled in the course of this departing year??..

These are the wishes of a company of life's successful people.. wishes the departing year fulfilled for them... Among these successful ones... the politician.. the journalist... the lawyer.. and the social pioneer...

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Ustad Rashid Karami

He was wrapped in his cloak, warding off the bitter winter cold, like a hermit at prayer in his sanctuary... I said to him...

— In the course of this year you have held all manner of high posts... from deputy to minister to Prime Minister... what, then, do you suppose you have realized of your wishes???

Ustad Karami looked into the distance.. and the ghost of a smile passed over his lips... I labored long to interpret it and did not succeed... Then the words came... flowing from his mouth... beautiful... serene... assured...

He said:..

— The first wish fulfilled for me with the passing of the year 1956 is that it added another year to my life; and this year has added to me a new experience of life that makes me incline more and more toward the ranks of hermits and mystics — which explains the great wish this year also fulfilled, one I used to feel and long to realize, namely the performance of the sacred duty of the pilgrimage...

And Ustad Karami smiles slyly... and goes on to say: — And since this talk is for "The Woman's Voice," this year has also increased my knowledge of the "daughter of Eve," which has made me believe in her as an effective element in the life of the nation, in view of the grave role for which divine power has prepared her; she is without doubt an element of goodness, love, and peace — save those among them whom time has corrupted... And last but not least, the year 1956 gave Arab nationalism a broad field in which to prove its truth and prove its strength..

And Ustad Rashid laughs merrily as he ends his talk, saying:

— I bear a grudge against the departing year, because it fulfilled none of my personal wishes!..

(Ustad Karami is still a bachelor, searching for his sweet other half...)

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And Dr. Edmond Rabbath... the lawyer

Warmth floods the hall... stealing through the limbs... soft... gentle... delicious... And the social pioneer... Mrs. Ibtihaj Kaddoura, president of the General Arab Women's Union, occupies the seat of honor... Since her recovery from her recent illness she has seemed... a flood of activity... and a surge of life...

I said:
Setting aside that harsh trial of illness through which you passed in the departing year... what wishes did this year fulfill for you???

She said:
— Wishes are not bound by time... Circumstances may allow a person to reach his goal in a span that never crossed his mind and that he never intended, or time may stretch on with them to an unlimited term. Still, I occupy myself with public projects together with my sisters and brothers, the good citizens, each striving his utmost to perform his own share of the duty — and that has no end, for whenever we achieve one goal we aspire to another; this is what survival demands, together with the love of reaching a higher level, an ideal life, and a better result...

The credit goes to this close cooperation among a body of citizens in mutual understanding, working for God, for the homeland, and for all humanity...

My wishes, as president of the General Arab Women's Union, were to see every Arab sister enjoying her right in full and performing her duties as a citizen with all the qualifications and readiness she possesses; and to see humanity, justice, and peace prevail over the world, so that man may be allowed to work in calm and sincerity, without anxiety and turmoil, and so render society a fruitful human service for the sake of God...

The brilliant lawyer... was in his turn reproachful of the departing year, because it fulfilled for him none of his wishes... especially the public ones... His wishes at the opening of the past year were confined to "peace prevailing in the Arab world on the basis of the recognition of the rights of the Arab nation in all its lands, especially in Palestine... and the establishment of justice, particularly with regard to the Palestinians driven from their homeland... and their return to their sacred homes"... And we see plainly that not one of these sacred wishes has been fulfilled so far!

I then made my way to the "Eastern News Agency" and the offices of the magazine al-Ahad... and the owner of the two establishments received me... the bold journalist... Ustad Riad Taha... and he went on... reviewing with me... the story of the wicked aggression... and the defeat and failure the aggressors met...

and the loss they suffered, which damaged their reputation and the economies of their countries...
I said to him:

— You are known as a self-made young man who managed to reach what you have reached thanks to your strong arm and your sound thinking... and it is known that you have made al-Ahad leap forward this year by bounds, thanks to which it has taken its place among the great magazines... Beyond that, what wishes did the year 1956 fulfill for you???

— I had no particular, defined wishes that I hoped to see fulfilled this year. But I have always had a single goal around which my wishes hover; that goal crystallized in my mind two years ago, and I set it down in a motto of mine that I have repeated often in my paper: "Freedom, Unity, Progress".. And it makes me happy that this year should close with the Arab nation having taken a great leaping stride toward that goal.

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Mrs. Loreen Rihani

And with the proprietor of the magazine "Dunya al-Ahdath"... the innovating journalist... and the able educator.. my rounds came to an end... And amid the clamor of the presses.. and the scratching of pens... the voice of Mrs. Loreen Rihani rose, saying:
I wished that we, men and women alike, would think of our responsibilities with sober, earnest thought, and that we would work to carry out what we think, instead of leaving it ink on paper, as is our habit in this country... And this year has proved that many of us have begun to work...
I also wished to see woman come down into the field of work, practicing it with energy, vitality, and sincerity, instead of crouching in a corner of her house demanding her rights; for she obtains her rights by work, and she obtains them moreover automatically, with no need of shouting, speeches, and lectures... and I believe that woman has indeed begun to practice her work this year...
I wished to see order prevail in the life of the nation and of the individual... and I thank God that I see this wish of mine coming true, day after day... and I have many proofs of it.. take the traffic regulations, for example...

On the whole, with the fulfillment of these wishes, or a part of them, I count myself very optimistic indeed, and I promise myself a future that is all goodness and beauty...

These, Madam, are some of the wishes that came true for some of life's successful people... I hope that your own wishes have come true as well... and may every year find you well!