Ambassador Essam bin Abed Al-Thaqafi has a positive spirit, a historical memory, and refined manners. Perhaps working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has given him a diplomacy that has made him respected and appreciated by those who know him and those who deal with him. Here we open the bag of memories with him, and recall evidence and scenes from the man’s life and his program during the month of Ramadan.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is part of me"

• When was the hour of his arrival into the world?

•• It was the dawn of Saturday, the first of Safar 1378 AH, the sixteenth of August 1958, in one of the neighborhoods of Mecca, near the Holy Mosque.

Which season were you born in?

•• It is well known that the summer in Mecca is one of the most difficult times of the year, with temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius, especially in August, if your question is about the climatic season.

• What does it mean to belong to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

•• Working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is completely different from working in any other sector of the state. As the years of work extend, you feel as if you have become a part of it and it is a part of you. On the one hand, you represent your country in every sense of the word in the countries where you work, and on the other hand, you live among many cultures and learn their languages, and this is the belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to diplomatic work.

Fasting in 6 countries

• How many Ramadans did he fast outside the Kingdom?

•• I worked in six different countries across the continents of the world (Mexico, the United States, Brunei, Argentina, Norway, Indonesia), and I experienced fasting in all of those countries. Some of the experiences were very beautiful, and others were tiring because they were in non-Islamic countries. However, fasting in our dear kingdom remains completely different, as it takes place in the holy places and among family and loved ones, in addition to the beautiful spirituality we experience here in our country.

• What do you remember from those “Ramadans”?

•• In Argentina, for example, there was the King Fahd Islamic Cultural Center, which organized several events during the month of Ramadan, starting with the daily Iftar, the obligatory prayers, Tarawih, and Qiyam al-Layl. We, the embassy members, and the center's employees felt as if we were in the Kingdom. In addition, it attracted members of the Islamic community from Syria, Lebanon, and Argentina to create a spiritual atmosphere that connected them to their religion and to the Islamic customs and traditions that they miss throughout the year.

• What environment did you grow up in, and what events, situations, and people awakened your early consciousness?

•• I grew up in the Makkan environment, which preserved the authentic customs and traditions of Makkan society and the respect of the young for the old within the same family, as well as the neighbors and teachers at school. The neighbor and the teacher would participate with the father in raising his children. There were unwritten rules that organized the life of the home, the neighborhood, and the school. We were raised on them, and they became the basis for our dealings with others. I retain in my memory some of the events of the 1967 war, when I was a child of eight or nine years old, and how my father would analyze the events of the war with his peers and visitors, and we did not understand anything except that there was a war going on and we had to be careful.

• What was your first day of fasting like?

•• There was no specific day on which we started fasting, but we started gradually so that we would fast from the beginning of the day until we returned from school, then we would eat a light meal to continue fasting until sunset, and so on until the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday and the closure of schools. We were required to complete the fast until the end of the day. That was in the first and second grades of primary school. Then we became men (as we were told) and we could fast the whole day throughout the month in all life and climatic conditions.

• What is your mother's and father's stance on your early fasting, and did they or one of them give you permission to break the fast due to exhaustion?

•• I may have spoken about that in my previous answer, and I add that my mother, may God have mercy on her, was the one who followed up on this matter between me and my brothers, and my father, may God have mercy on him, would watch from afar and encourage us with simple symbolic gifts and sometimes with additional amounts outside our daily allowances. How beautiful those days were, which refresh the memory when they pass by, and how beautiful that time was with all its difficulties and deprivation.

Me and "The Small Market"

What did the family eat for suhoor at that time?

•• I remember that the main dish for Suhoor was koshari rice with yogurt, which was my favorite even if there were other dishes. Of course, we would sleep an hour or two after the Isha prayer to wake up for Suhoor and then continue sleeping to wake up before going to school. However, this custom is not applied in the days before Eid al-Fitr, as schools are closed and everyone is preparing for Eid by buying clothes and helping parents arrange and prepare the house to receive visitors and spend the Eid days.

What household chores were you assigned?

•• My father, may God have mercy on him, worked in silversmithing and had a shop in an area called (the small market) in Mecca, where he displayed what he crafted. My father used to take me and my older brother to his shop, and he often trained us on how to use the tools he used in silversmithing, in addition to other simple tasks that accompanied it. We believed at the time that without us, he would not have been able to complete his work, and his customers would not have been able to buy silver jewelry for their wives to adorn themselves with during the Eid al-Fitr holidays.

My handwriting is beautiful

• What difference or advantage did you feel you had over your peers?

•• At school, I was distinguished by the beauty of my handwriting. The teachers used to assign me to design and write the wall magazines, as well as design and write the titles of the topics for the school’s annual magazine. How proud I was when I put my name next to every job I did, and how happy I was when the school principal would give me two copies of the magazine after it was printed in appreciation of my efforts. I kept some of them until recently, and I don’t know where they are now.

• Who do you remember from your childhood friends?

•• One of the advantages of social media is that it has brought us together again with many childhood friends after a long separation of decades. There is no doubt that the pre-university study stages brought together colleagues for more than ten years, after which everyone would go to university studies, each in a different place, and then work, each according to his specialization and studies, so the years and work concerns would separate them. However, closeness again has become a characteristic of all study and work colleagues. I am now gathered with a small group of colleagues from Al-Falah School, we were very close during the study and we meet now on an average of once every month or two, and another large group of us and those who preceded us and followed us by years, as well as work colleagues with whom we were brought together in the corridors of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Kingdom’s embassies abroad, meetings in which we recall memories and the best days of study and work.

Why do we feel nostalgia for our early days in life?

•• True.. We are always bound to our past by nostalgia and great longing for the days of childhood and beginnings. I always remember the neighborhoods of Mecca where I grew up and was raised, my father’s shop, and my school where I spent 12 years. I wish to visit them, but a pang of regret overwhelms me every time because those areas have become a thing of the past, as they were all removed to expand the Holy Mosque.

• Where did you feel the sense of separation from your city and the change in your lifestyle?

When I joined King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, I had to leave Mecca and move to the university. After completing my university studies, I joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which later moved from Jeddah to Riyadh, and I moved with it and from there to countries around the world where I worked in embassies. Thus, I found myself physically distancing myself little by little from my beloved city of Mecca, but my soul is still attached to it, and I am waiting for the day when I will return to it to spend my last days in its embrace.

A manager I will never forget

• When did you start studying, which school will you never forget, and which teacher do you have a special favor to remember?

•• I started studying in the year 1384 AH (1964), and my primary, intermediate, and secondary education was at Al-Falah Schools in Makkah Al-Mukarramah. I have many fond memories and beautiful moments with many teachers, but Mr. Muhammad Radwan, the school principal, may God have mercy on him, remains the one who accompanied us and whom we accompanied throughout these years. My generation of students and I, as well as those before and after us, hold him in our hearts with all love, appreciation, and respect. He was strict and imposing in his speech and management, but he also had the heart of a kind father who considered every student in his school as his own son. We, the students of Al-Falah School, often gather on different occasions, and that man remains present among us. No meeting is complete without recalling our memories with him, even though more than 50 years have passed since we left our school desks.

• What are the memorable moments from that period?

•• Perhaps the most important situation I went through and still remember to this day was when I passed from the first grade of elementary school to the second grade, and after the end of the summer vacation and the return to school, on the first day, when the students were distributed to their classes, I found that my name was not among them, and the supervisor in charge took me back to the first grade, telling me that I had failed and that I would have to repeat the year. I was overcome with great sadness and psychological pain that cannot be equaled, as how could I start again with children on their first day when I had already overcome this matter a whole year ago? I later learned that my father, may God have mercy on him, was the one who suggested to the school administration that desire because he was not satisfied with my level of performance in the first grade, and that repeating the first grade would strengthen my learning abilities. The question that puzzled me is: how did the school administration agree to that when it was the one who made the decision?

"Grain soup"

What is your Ramadan schedule from dawn until suhoor?

•• Currently, I try to keep my Ramadan day free from any commitments so that I can devote myself as much as possible to drawing closer to God through acts of worship. I wake up around 11 o'clock to read whatever I can of the Holy Quran from the time of Duha prayer until the time of Dhuhr prayer at the neighborhood mosque. I return to reading the Quran until Asr prayer. In the afternoon, I go out to buy some Ramadan necessities, which are mostly for food or drink, and most of them are unnecessary and are an additional burden on the Iftar table that no one touches. After Iftar, I prepare for Isha and Taraweeh prayers, which are followed on some days by a meeting with friends or a visit to family, then a return home. This is how I spend most of the days of Ramadan, during which I perform Umrah once or twice if possible.

• Which dishes, meals, or foods do you make sure are on your Ramadan table, especially local ones?

It is well known that Ramadan has its favorite dishes, but I am a lover of love soup, which my wife makes in a way that I do not accept any substitute for, and of course one or two types of samosas. I also prefer other popular dishes such as fava beans, masoub, liver, and head meat, but of course, they are distributed over the days of Ramadan. In my opinion, Ramadan is an opportunity to reduce food intake and lose some weight.

Welcome to the new acquaintances

Do you follow radio or television programs, and if so, what are they?

•• I usually follow political and news programs and some variety programs if available. With the age of social media, everything has become different, and in the face of this huge number of channels and radio stations, I am certain that no one can commit to specific programs or channels, as the competition is fierce and the choice is wide open.

Why do we have fewer friends as we get older?

•• Perhaps it is due to our desire to be content with the friendships we have known and who have known us for many years. As we get older, there is no time to establish new relationships and friendships that we may discover after a while are not worth our attention and time. Therefore, in my opinion, the number of friends decreases as we are content with a specific group that one of us gathers around whenever we need them. This, of course, does not prevent us from getting to know new faces and acquaintances, and I do not say friendships.

What is your favorite piece of wisdom, a line of poetry, and the color you love?

•• My wisdom, after this long journey between work and the paths of life, is that nothing is worth it. Give everything its due without exaggeration or excess, for life is short no matter how long it may seem, and the afterlife is what is worth working for.

• Do you have any sporting interests, and what is your favorite team?

•• Unfortunately, I have no sporting inclinations. I try to walk sometimes and regret neglecting it. My favorite team is the national team, whose performance I get excited about if they do well.

Which poem do you think is worth its weight in gold?

•• One of the most beautiful poems I have loved, and which in my opinion deserves to be written in gold, is the poem by the poet Karim Al-Iraqi, which begins:

Do not complain to people about a wound that you yourself inflicted; only the one who suffers the pain truly feels it.

• What time or era would you like to have lived in?

•• The time of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, and his noble companions.