Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 13
In addition to finding a suitably safe space to display Mother’s photograph, Kareem was also eager to find a location to house his ever-growing collection of commemorative artifacts and other precious items of remembrance relating to our families and our young country. Kareem said this collection was part of our heritage and it was vital, therefore, that we made every effort to protect it for future generations.
My husband is now on a dedicated mission to recover as many items from our past as is possible. For example, he has discovered and purchased seventeen copies of the Koran, some dating as far back as the early 1800s, as well as fifty ancient, valuable but very frayed carpets. He even claims to have the timeworn camel bags that originally belonged to our grandfather, King Abdul Aziz. These bags would be tossed on the back of his war camel when he fought enemy tribes in the early 1900s after he had recaptured old Riyadh from the al-Rashid tribe.
He has centuries-old wooden doors and windows that he treasures for their great beauty. He would often talk in great detail about the enormous amount of work carried out by skilful artisans who carved intricate designs into the wood. They would then use coloured dyes, made from berries that had been ground into a fine powder in wooden bowls, to further decorate the wood. Despite my doubts about their authenticity, Kareem insists that these were the doors and windows used on our ancestors’ modest mud homes in the old city of Riyadh. Such an idea makes my romantic husband very happy and I have often watched as he opens and closes the door latches, taking great care not to damage them. He seems to derive the most pleasure from running his fingers over the carved flowers and plants. It is evident to me that my husband is escaping the present and returning to the days of our warrior grandfather when he does these things. When he is busily involved with our family’s past like this, I slip away to leave him to his innocent pleasures.
Once when I shared stories of my grandfather’s feats, a smiling friend told me that a sure sign of ageing is when our thoughts linger more in the past than in the present. If this is so, then I must acknowledge that my husband and I are now of the age where most would say we are no longer young.
Of our children and grandchildren, only Abdullah and his daughter, Little Sultana, have shown an interest in Kareem’s obsession, but my husband frequently urges all our children to view the items and artifacts he has displayed and tells them the same stories repeatedly in the hope that their interest will one day emerge.
The most dazzling decorations are reserved for the room that houses my mother’s photograph. Kareem set out on a global search for the most brilliantly coloured mosaics for the walls and the tiles on the floors. There are two windows in the room, with exquisite shapes and beautiful hues of glass. The most unique and expensive carpet in our palace has been placed upon the centre portion of the floor of this room. The ceiling is made of wood, with lovely friezes of Arab script encircling it. A specially made desk created by a European master furniture designer holds a copy of our rarest Koran.
Mother’s Room, as we call it, is the most exclusive in a palace richly decorated with divine furnishings. Additionally, Kareem recalled that my mother was an avid gardener; she had a great love for the beautiful flowers she grew and arranged in massive vases throughout our home. My husband even added an expansive botanical garden to the structure, telling me, ‘What better ornament could there be for your mother than desert roses and lilies?’
With all these elements, there is a depth of feeling in the room, a gentleness and grace that reveals the soul of my mother.
Recently, and for the first time, I can see that my daughters are captivated by the result of their father’s intensive efforts. Their exclamations of joy and admiration for the work he has undertaken make me very happy.
In our married youth, many were the times I was frustrated by my husband’s actions, finding him to be too self-interested to please me, but over the years he has shown me his sincere character, which I believe to be the best that a man can be. Perhaps his faultless brother Assad, who is married to my sister Sara and who, after many years of marriage, still loves her deeply, set a fine example and over the years he has influenced my husband. All I know is that with age Kareem’s attentions turned inward to his home, his wife, his children and grandchildren. No longer was he as distracted by business and the world outside as he once was; he receives the greatest pleasure in planning brilliant surprises for those he loves.
Truly, I am a fortunate woman to have married Kareem al-Sa’ud. How pleased I am that I did not divorce my husband during our unpleasant years of discord.
Just as I am thinking to praise my husband to my daughters, who remain sitting closely by me, loud noises interrupt my attention. A variety of feminine voices and jovial laughter resonate through the hallway and into the room where we are sitting. My sisters and their daughters have arrived for the special function I have planned to display the new room housing Mother’s photograph, as well as show the newly built structure filled with historical items. Ten daughters and one son were born to my mother, but of my nine sisters only seven, besides myself, remain with the living, for we have lost our greatly loved siblings Nura and Reema.
Today I am anticipating the attendance of four sisters, including