Appendix: Memorial Address by Dr. Ihsan al-Nass, Vice President of the Academy

Vice President of the Arabic Language Academy

At the memorial for the late Dr. AbdulWahab Homad

The hand of death took you suddenly, Abu Ghassan, and we never expected this absence. You were among us only days ago, and your work for the Academy stopped only when illness pressed hard upon you. Your absence has left sorrow and overwhelming grief in the hearts of your family, your brothers and all who loved you. Our consolation in this loss is that death lies in wait for every living being in our passing world, and that is the law of creation that al-Mutanabbi expressed when he said:

My friendship with the noble departed lasted more than twenty years, from the time I met him at Kuwait University, where he taught law in the Faculty of Law and I taught Arabic literature in the Faculty of Arts. Close bonds of friendship formed between us, which other friends from Syria shared with us, and we met on many occasions and on evenings when the Syrian professors gathered for friendly talk late into the night. Nothing spoiled those evenings except the news that reached us from the Arab homeland, exposed to the schemes and plots of its enemies, above all the aggression our Palestinian brothers suffered at the hands of sinful Zionism and its abominable deeds, and the open aggression that sister Lebanon suffered, which took the lives of hundreds of its sons and of Palestinian fighters.

During the long years in which we met there, the noble departed revealed to me what filled me with admiration for him and esteem for his person. In his character he was, may God have mercy on him, a living example of a tolerant nature, a pure heart, sincere affection and ready generosity, and in his learning he was a brimming sea and a trusted, well-founded authority in legal studies, and in criminal law in particular...

Then came our second meeting, at the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus, where I enjoyed his fellowship for years that confirmed what I had known of him before, his pleasant company and true affection. But besides these fine qualities, other sides of his character were revealed to me. His work in our Academy was a high model of what an Academy member should be. He sat on many of the Academy's committees, overflowing with energy and full of resolve; he never failed to carry out the tasks entrusted to him in the Academy, and often volunteered for additional tasks he saw the Academy needed. He had a distinguished presence on all these committees, examining the matters before each committee with deliberation, precision and devotion, and helping his colleagues with useful suggestions and sound opinions. He had a strong drive that we find lacking in men younger than he. When he formed a view on a subject open to debate and differing opinions, he made his contribution with great enthusiasm and vigor, but if he heard a view different from his own and found it right, he did not hesitate to accept it. That is the character of a scholar worthy of the name, one who submits to the truth wherever he finds it and acts on the noble hadith: "Wisdom is the believer's lost property; wherever he finds it, he has the best right to it."

There is one side of the departed's noble character that many who hear his name may not know. To the public he was an eminent authority in legal research, but what they do not know is that alongside his vast legal knowledge he was a man of letters with a well-developed literary sense and refined taste, and, on top of all that, an accomplished poet who wrote verse on many subjects. His taste for poetry led him to memorize a good deal of Arabic verse, and in our meetings he would delight us with whatever suited the occasion from his vast store of memorized poems. This shows the strength of the memory he was given, which never failed him or weakened with age; his memory for Arabic poetry was a source of astonishment and admiration to us.

The dear departed combined in his person what rarely comes together in anyone else. He was an outstanding legal scholar, a gifted man of letters and poet, and above all a sincere politician, truly committed to the patriotic and Arab nationalist currents. Our country benefited from his wide experience in the various ministries he held, and he was among those truly loyal to the principles of Arabism and Arab unity, the hope of every Arab who truly believes in his Arab identity.

Every time we lose someone dear to us, we stand bewildered before the riddle of death, and we find no answer to this riddle beyond our grasp except in surrendering to God's command and submitting to His will. Mortality in this world is woven into the fabric of every living being; this riddle lies in the very sap of life. A living being awaits its last moment from the day it is born, and consolation lies in knowing that the one we have lost spent his life in pursuit of good, working tirelessly for the good of his country and doing his duty toward it; that he dealt with his brothers in a spirit of harmony, true friendship, mutual love and cooperation in solving whatever problems they faced; that he kept far from flattery and hypocrisy in his dealings with them; and that throughout his life he set his heart on seeking knowledge and gathering mature learning. All these qualities were found in our noble departed, and so our loss is grievous. But after the first fit of grief and sorrow one returns to seeking consolation by reflecting on the essence of life and death, and the pain is eased by knowing that countless caravans of great men went before the departed to the hereafter, and that immortality was granted to no one, not even to the prophets. The wise among the poets spoke of the fate of the living and stood before death as one who reflects and draws its lesson, and I can only repeat with Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri:

May God enfold you in His wide mercy, Abu Ghassan, settle you in the meadows of His gardens, and grant your family, your kin and your brothers fair patience and consolation.

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