Bearer of a universal human heritage

I felt terribly unlucky when I tested positive with Omicron because I lost a rare opportunity to meet with HRH Crown Prince Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah. I had never have the chance to meet him, and I still feel a bitter disappointment.اضافة اعلان

Prince Hussein was born on June 28, 1994, or 51 years exactly from my birth. My youngest son, Ali, was born on November 14, 1991, or 56 years after the birth of the late King Al-Hussein Ibn Talal. The Crown Prince’s mother, Queen Rania, graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1991, or 25 years after my graduation from the same university.

The birthdates of my five children coincide with a major religious or Hashemite occasion. My daughter Asma was born on Moharram 1st, 1399 (beginning of the Hejirah year, according to the Muslim lunar calendar. Ahmad was born on Ramadan 27th, or Lailat Al Qadr. Sharaf was born the same time when Sherif Abdulhamid Sharaf passed away, on July 3, 1980. And so on.

All these coincidental events deepened my family’s deep-rooted loyalty to the Hashemite family. My father was among the few news anchors at the Jordanian State Radio in Jerusalem after the unity of the two banks in 1950. The founder of modern Jordan, the late King Abdullah Ibn Al Hussein, liked my father’s error-free reading of the news.

I was the last Chief of the Royal Court under the late King Al Hussein and the first to serve under King Abdullah II. Regardless of how short that period was, it was of epochal importance.

I had the honor to comment on two speeches which the Crown Prince had delivered: when Prince Hussein became the youngest man to ever chair a UN general assembly meeting at the young age of 20; later, he chaired the meeting of the World Youth Forum at the King’s Academy in Amman. In both cases, his performance as an orator and a chairman was admirable.

We had a few brief encounters, mostly in the presence of His Majesty King Abdullah. He seldom talks, but you feel he is amassing every thing that is said or enunciated. His focus is also impressive. He does not surmise or make any facial expressions on what he hears. Except for that quick glitter in his eyes when he hears something he likes, you can then get a feedback. Otherwise, body language interpreters would not tell what his reaction is.

This 42nd grandson of the Prophet Mohammad and heir to the Hashemites, who are the second oldest dynasty in the world, has so much to be boastful about. Yet, I believe that his humility is great. Having Hijazi, Jordanian, Turkish, Palestinian and British blood in him makes him open minded and the bearer of a universal human heritage.

I truly like him.

The writer is an economist, and has held several ministerial posts, including former deputy prime minister and former chief of the Royal Court.


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