Your
Majesty,
you
are dying.
The days are no longer the Days, and
men no longer the Men.
Your
Majesty,
you
are bequeathing us a crisis of faith.
The days are no longer the Days, and
men no longer the Men.
Your
Majesty,
transition
of power is never easy in an authoritarian state.
The days are no longer the Days, and
men no longer the Men.
Your
Majesty,
why
couldn’t it be some other bloody Middle Eastern president or king?
The days are no longer the Days, and
men no longer the Men.
Your
Majesty,
pray
forgive me, but I have to confess a rather poignant thing.
The days are no longer the Days, and
men no longer the Men.
Your
Majesty,
no
matter what you have done,
no
matter what you say,
no
matter what you think,
in
popular imagination,
you
will forever remain
a
symbol of… treason
albeit
mixed with
some
grace.
For
the days, since forever, have not been the Days, and men not been the Men.
Ours,
I am afraid, is a continuing legacy of agitation, suspicion and hate.
Notes
* Written on February 5, 1999, on
the occasion of King Hussein’s final
return to his homeland, Jordan, for the avowed purpose of dying in his country and
among his people.
** The Days are no longer the days, and men
no longer Men. This is my translation of the popular colloquial Syrian saying
“la al-dinyeh dinyeh, wa la al-naas naas.” Literally, however, the word
“al-naas” stands for “people” and not only men.