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that was close to his liking. It evoked in him caution and
anxiety. At the same time, it awakened in him hopes and
promises of what he had aspired for. The young prince
also suffered from the difficult march. But his iron will,
strong mettle and his awareness of the difficult task he
was undertaking were motives that provided him with an
unprecedented and extraordinary strength. Abdulaziz well
knew the dispositions of his companions. He had absolute
confidence and trust in his loyal friends. At the same time,
he could see how tired they were and their desperate need
for rest and recuperation. He realized that it was necessary
- at such time - to boost their morale, and to make them
realize that they alone can complete the task of liberating
the homeland.
The sun began to descend in the direction of the western
horizon. Abdulaziz gave his order to stop for rest at a
convenient resting place, as he saw from the far horizon
the advent of sand storms. In front, he could see the still
sea of sand dunes.
These sands have a notorious history. Here the traces of
men and animals disappeared instantly, being wiped out
by the winds and the sand storms, and the route that had
recently been traversed appeared as though it had been
untrodden. The ancient bedouins know the locations where
the sliding sands can swallow not only an uncautious
person but the whole caravan as well.
Suddenly, a sand storm swept over the nearest dune.
For the inhabitants of the desert, it was a common sight
for the wind to uproot the upper face of the upper layer of
sand and to lift it high up in the air, winding it in the shape
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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s Spouse
of an ascending cyclone, such that the place was seen
from a distance as though it were a raging volcanic crater
shooting lava up in the air. But this time, everything was
more serious, more dangerous, more terrifying, because
the gloomy and dark sky soon poured forth quantities of
clouds of dust and fine dust over their heads, the small
particles of which penetrated through their eyes, noses and
throats, preventing them from breathing, as they obstructed
the passage of the air – no breathing in, no breathing out.
Visibility was almost nil as nothing could be seen beyond
a couple of yards ahead, thus rendering people half blind.
These were the (khamaseen) winds, which are stirred by
the northern winds, and could last up to fifty days in full.
Then loud cries were heard from the guide of the
caravan. He was an expert camel guide. He had known
he was in a desperate situation from the very start of the
storm when he was unable to gather men and camels, for
they would soon be dispersed in the desert, which was like
a sea of sand in which all would be drowned in the raging
sand of the cyclone, just as a ship sinks in a stormy sea.
Under such conditions, one cannot see or hear even at a
distance of two yards. But thanks to God no one was lost
and the guide managed to gather the frightened camels,
which under such circumstances tried to assemble together
when facing this fierce and stubborn opponent. The men
protected themselves under large woolen blankets against
the grains of sand that penetrated all that came their way,
and in order to dispel feelings of despair in the absence of
roofs that sheltered the afflicted, and in the absence of fire
round which people in forests would gather at night.
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Shortly before dawn and sunrise, the wind quieted
down, after it had blown so fiercely, producing all sorts
of noises that deafened the ears like the banging on
brass. However, the blanket that was heavy with a thick
layer of sand, and the faces of the revived faces that had
been dried up, were all that remained of the storm that
passed in peace, as though nothing had happened. Thus
the caravan proceeded onwards and had to face, unless
something unexpected should occur, many monotonous
days that were similar to that day along the long desert
route. Abdulaziz, however, was prepared, for the sake of
attaining his objective, to go through much more than that.
A year before, his father Abdul Rahman, together with
Sheikh Mubarak, had gathered a large force to fight their
bitter enemy, the Al-Rashid family, whose members had
occupied their land. The battle that raged was a fierce one.
But despite the courage and bravery of Abdul Rahman’s
men, they had to withdraw, at which time the young
Abdulaziz swore by God Almighty to recapture, without
the least doubt, the land of his ancestors and make his
people happy.
Through the eye of imagination, there passed the
great difficulties encountered on the way and the great
dangers and risks they had been exposed to, together with
the deprivation from which they suffered. The caravan
crossed the dry courses of rain streams with their hard
edges and sharp slopes through a sea of sands where sharp
and protruding rocks stood as sentinels in places where
one could not see a single living soul. Finally, tired and
exhausted, but grateful and thankful to God, the men,
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