I know that the first plane to fly on the air bridge for sending medical aid and supplies departed to Lebanon on the instructions of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz minutes after the devastating explosion that destroyed the port and half of our beloved, Beirut.
I know well that it carried the deep pain and broken hearts of every one of us in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over Beirut and Lebanon, which is of momentous significance to us and with which we have a deep historical bond. We have deep fraternal adoration for this city that occupies ample space in our hearts and minds, our concerns and great pain over this extraordinary betrayed capital, which has always been and will remain the bride of the Arabs.
O Beirut, city of history, beloved of poetry and the poets, O verses of poems, O mother of ordinance, O magical restoration of Arab world; our hearts bleed for your inundation with martyrs, the pain of their families and the despaired and the flood of tears shed by your squares and tiles. O Beirut, which we cherished and cherished us, how can we heal your wounds and wipe your tears as you moan in devastation, pain and dejection? O the horror and brutality, the depth of bitterness in our hearts invoked this vicious crime committed against you.
I have come to know you well, O Beirut, O Lebanon and O beloved Lebanese. I knew you as a jubilant ambassador and dear brother in your country, where friendships broaden and the relationships of brotherhood were never punctuated. Overwhelmed with emotion and sadness, I can almost hear, from here in Aseer, the wailing of that sea that has always washed the feet of the beloved, tormented city, the sea which I always watched giving its morning greetings to our embassy and sending peace of loyalty, friendship and love to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is no wonder that Beirut and Riyadh have a Siamese relationship, inseparable from love, friendliness and the weight of history.
The brutal explosion that devastated the authentic Arab capital left us overwhelmed with pain, tears and wounded feelings for a city that we loved and adored.
I know very well that people normally inhabit cities, but Beirut is the magnificent city that resides in me wherever I am. It remains inside you, and your love’s depth is not lessened, no matter how far you are from it. It definitely not be an exaggeration to say that the horrendous explosion shook my being, struck my family and me and caused us great pain, not only because we have loved ones, friends and people we consider kin in Beirut, but also because between my country and Lebanon is a history of brotherhood, love and camaraderie dating back 68 years, specifically when the late president, Camille Chamoun, became the first Lebanese president to visit the Kingdom in 1952. He initiated a history of firm fraternity that existed in the past, remains in present and will continue in the future.
I know very well that the founding king’s advice continues to reverberate. He said to his guest: “The fabric of Lebanon and the plurality of its sects and creeds give it an advantage and singularity, and it should distance itself from the axis and alliances and focus on the importance of dialogue, understanding and solidarity between all Lebanese sects and factions, so that it may be blessed security and stability and protected from ambitions, in a framework of firm national unity that protects it and safeguards its independence.”
It is its history that allocates for Beirut a place in the heart of every Saudi and every sincere Arab, and so the criminal explosion came to crush all of our hearts. I know very well that the vanguards of the Saudi air bridge to Beirut not only carried medical relief, aid and donations, but also carried our hearts, our pain and our distress over Beirut, the beloved city, the capital Lebanon, which Saudi Arabia has long described as the center of Arab cooperation...
With all of the hardship and pain, we hope that our love for Beirut will serve as a bandage for the wounds and alleviate those who have lost their loved ones. I will never forget the day I said to the Lebanese family when I had been ambassador to Beirut: “The record of the fraternal relationship brings our two countries together with incalculable love bearing the signature of seven dear letters, Lebanon.”
O beloved Beirut, your sorrows overwhelm us and your wounds shed blood from our bodies. We have always been two Siamese brothers, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is not only building a bridge merely for relief and aid, but rather a bridge of hearts that beats in a wounded Beirut, Beirut that lives inside of me.
