For years I used to attend the book fair in Sharjah, which is among the largest of its kind in Arab countries and the entire world, as well as I used to participate in other conferences like ‘Government Communications’. Usually these programmes are followed by some cultural performances. This time Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, came to London and delivered inaugural speech of the book fair there, which was attended by several Arab countries with an exhibitor from some countries or with twelve exhibitors from some others like United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Sultan also holds the title of Doctor; he has been awarded the Doctor of Philosophy in History with distinction from the University of Exeter, and another doctorate from the University of Durham in Political Geography of the Gulf. Along with these he possesses more than ten honorary doctorates. He is a well- educated intellectual who gives much attention to education and considers it as the whole society’s way to future. He is also very interested in cultural activities. These all represent his academic achievements and hobbies.

Of course it is the parental consent that the London book fair was hosted at Olympia centre, which is just 50 meters away from Al-hayat tower, and I didn’t need to travel 15 hours by plane to and fro, but I could reach the fair by walk. For me and some others there was an interactive session with Sheikh which helped me to learn a lot about him. He believed in Arab nationalist ideas even from his student days in Egypt which strengthened in Britain. He was influenced by the political ideology of Abdullah Rimawi, who served as the Prime Minister of Jordan about six months in the fifties of the last century, and then moved to Egypt in support of the President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

I lived as an Arab nationalist in ‘their homes’, and I haven’t had any kind of party activities and I found myself agreeing with Sheikh Sultan in many things with an exception in one. He is an optimistic who believes that the nation would wake up from its faults and would move in the way of progress and development and he also focusing on the importance of education in a nation’s progress.

I am not an optimistic at all, as I could see my dreams of ‘Aarabization’ coming to an end one by one and today nothing other than its memories remain. However, I hope the Ruler of Sharjah and the optimists like him may be right, and myself wrong.

He is optimistic but not a daydreamer, I found that he does not want to give the Gulf countries a leadership role in the Arab renaissance, that he expects to happen, but he prefers Egypt for this role. He is very optimistic in capabilities of the President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and believes that Egypt is moving in the right direction.

The meeting with Sheikh Sultan was attended by colleagues from London and friends from Sharjah, whom I used to see in conferences, and there were some visitors from the participants. Then we walked along with Sheikh Sultan in the massive exhibition hall, which includes about 1,600 participants.

We stood in the Saudi section, and I asked for two books, one featuring King Abdullah’s speeches, and the other speeches of Prince Salman, it was published before he became the king. And I was told to come on last day for these two books along with some other books I asked. Then I came out with a small book titled “Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz’s project for preservation of hawks”. Once Prince Sultan, may Allah be merciful to him, told me about a natural sanctuary in Saudi Arabia that bore his name, and offered me a visit there. Then I replied I would not visit it with nobody other than him, but the fortune was not in my favor.

Before I forgot, I found that there are some unpublished poems of Sheikh Sultan, I listened to some of its lines verses. I remember this line: “Oh Cheater! Oh time! Cheater, You deluded me with paradise, and threw me in the hell.” And I suggested Sheikh Dr. to make a collection of his poems, but he didn’t express much interest in it, as in his scientific and historical books. He gave me his latest book (in English) “Culture, Education and Change 1987-2014”. I will make a review of it for the readers in the nearest future as I have done with previous books of Sheikh Sultan.

Source: Al-Hayat – Jihad al Khazin