The Author's Preface: A Man of Many Gifts

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

One of the worthy efforts of the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus is the light it sheds on the lives of a constellation of its departed members who served their nation faithfully, loved its immortal language with devotion, gave themselves to defending its borders and to raising it to the standing it deserves. At the head of this constellation comes Dr. AbdulWahab Homad, may God have mercy on him.

Dr. Homad was no ordinary figure; many gifts came together in his personality. He was the able jurist, the outstanding parliamentarian, the wise minister, the brilliant academic and the sensitive poet; a patriot in conduct, in deed and in allegiance; an Arab nationalist firm in faith and conviction, in high-mindedness and pride; and a humanist in inclination and feeling, in sentiment and loyalty.

He endured the horrors of war in Europe, and his resolve never weakened; he was threatened, and he neither gave in nor yielded to blackmail; he was thrown into the depths of prisons, and he did not bend; he suffered the pain of separation from his family and his homeland, and his sense of belonging never cooled, nor did his loyalty ever run dry. Throughout his life, wherever he settled or traveled, he remained true to his principles and convictions: he would not bargain, he would not make peace with wrong, he would not flatter, and he would not court favor at the expense of right and truth. That is why he remained respected at every level and esteemed by those who knew him, by his colleagues, his companions and his students.

He contributed to the renaissance of his homeland, and took constructive initiatives in forming its educational and university cadres, in drawing up the constitution, in consolidating Arab national principles, in enriching the Arabic library with distinguished and unique legal works, in spreading a purposeful and committed culture, and in confronting tyranny and calling for democracy, freedom of opinion and of expression, and support for the oppressed.

If our coming generations are to know the contributions of our scholars who passed away in the last century, they will find in the honored lives of those scholars models fit to serve them as an example to follow: in strength of will, in genuine endurance in facing hardship, in firmness of belief, in depth of belonging, in sincerity of service, in nobility of human feeling and in purity of moral character.

This book, which we present to the Arab reader, has four chapters. The first covers the life of Dr. AbdulWahab Homad: his upbringing, studies, work, activity and scholarship. The second covers Dr. Homad's works in the field of law, shedding light on the contents of his legal books ("Political Crime," "A Concise Guide to Moroccan Criminal Procedure," "Advanced Studies in Comparative Criminal Jurisprudence," "Principles of Criminal Procedure," "A Detailed Commentary on the Penal Code," "Political Crime in Comparative Legislation," "Al-Wasit: A Commentary on Kuwaiti Penal Law").

The chapter also considers his book entitled "Memoirs of an Arab Student at the Sorbonne, 1939-1945." These memoirs are rich in what they contain: a portrait of France during the Second World War and of the kind of cultural life that prevailed at the time, an analysis of the characters of a number of his companions, an account of the methods and practices of teaching in that period, and a record of the activities he undertook at every level, national, pan-Arab and international. Through these memoirs Dr. Homad's personality emerges in all its dimensions, and they hold many stances worth emulating and views worth following.

Nor was this chapter limited to the books he wrote; it also considers some of his public lectures and the thought and views they contain, among them "a lecture on fighting crime, and a lecture on the development of legal thought on international criminal responsibility."

Dr. Homad's poetry is the subject of the third chapter, which presents examples of the poems he wrote in prison and of the pain he endured in its depths, examples of what he wrote about his life's companion, his wife and the mother of his two children, and examples of what he wrote in longing for his homeland.

To complete the picture of Dr. Homad, it was also necessary to consider a selection of his views "on the teaching profession; his part in establishing free secondary and vocational education; his sending of study missions to Egypt and the Arab countries; his view on the teaching of Arabic and of foreign languages; on simplifying grammar and spelling; his support for the classical form of Arabic verse and his opposition to modern poetry; his deep belief in Arab nationalism and Arab unity; his belief that religion is love and tolerance; and his opposition to mixed marriage."

His address at the ceremony at which he was received as a full member of the Arabic Language Academy set out a number of views in his analysis of the literary output of the late Professor Shukri Faisal, whose seat he took in the Academy; these views deserve reflection, appreciation and respect.

This book also includes the appendix containing the speeches delivered at Dr. Homad's memorial ceremony; these speeches give a picture of his life and of his varied contributions in the service of his homeland and its immortal language.

I must offer my deep thanks to our distinguished teacher, Dr. Mazen al-Mubarak, for the observations he made.

How grateful and indebted I am to him for his foreword to this book, and how highly I value the qualities he possesses in learning and in virtue, all of them adorned by a generous character and noble descent. May God reward him on behalf of his nation with the best of rewards.

May God grant Dr. AbdulWahab Homad His abundant mercy, as abundant as the many gifts he gave his nation, may He make Paradise his abode, and may his honored life stand before the generations as an example to follow. Success comes from God alone.

The Author