Difficult are the words when they turn into condolences, and even harder is to eulogize a dear one, especially when it is a dear sister and colleague, the esteemed journalist and professor Amah Al-Raouf Hassan Al-Sharqi, may God have mercy on her in life and death.
In her life, she was a self-made woman with a cause and a project, and in her death, a symbol of the struggle of Yemeni women. She was patient to a killing degree, forgiving to a shameful extent, endured her pains with patience, and paved her way without waiting for or asking help from anyone. Like any struggler, if she stumbled, she stood back up, but her standing was with pride and dignity. She endured her pains and illness alone, refusing to let anyone share them, bearing the harshness of pain and the bitterness of losing a sister while between life and death. Yet she insisted on facing her pain alone, mocking it as she mocked other hardships until the difficult became easy.
I accompanied her in some phases and shared many works with her, but she was always ahead in renewal and creativity. Her philosophy was always to immerse herself in work to the point of forgetting everything around her, stepping steadily towards success, achievement, and innovation to the point of savoring and blending in. She would float with her thoughts and creations, moving from one idea to another, from one innovation to another, forgetting mealtimes, drinks, rest, and sleep, as if she was racing against time before death caught up with her, as if she was always challenging fate, even when it opposed her. And because I did not expect her departure so soon, her last article shocked me, as if it was a farewell. Yet, I could not contact her, I could not, I could not...
Now I say to her, the word remains frozen after you; we have lost you and missed you, and everyone who knew you with your constant smile even in your most tired and worst states missed you. We missed your exciting talks about hope, society, the future, and the ever-renewing dreams that never stopped. Every time I renewed my visit to you, I found you painting a new picture for Yemen's future. We had a unique companionship in our determination against sick thoughts, and you had a fighting pen always aimed at a better tomorrow.
Raoufa, her illness exhausted her, and she hid it even from the closest people to her. No one knew she was suffering unbearable pain and was scheduled for a major and dangerous surgery. If it wasn't for my last visit to her after missing her absence and contacting her where she was, I wouldn't have known about her illness like some of her dear ones, who can be counted on the fingers, including her brothers who didn't leave her side since they knew about her illness despite her stubbornness. They never stopped asking about her, and they all kept the matter hidden from her other acquaintances at her request.
Now, I allow myself to mourn myself and those around me for her and to reveal what she made me swear to keep to myself then. She was eager to know the news of everyone during her illness, longing for everyone and every place, especially her birthplace with all its cherished memories. It was a promise I committed to during that long period, but whenever I contacted her, she repeated the same request to me so that no one would worry about her. God made me and the few who knew her condition extremely anxious about her when the surgery was delayed amidst the events of change in the heart of Cairo until our hearts almost broke with fear of what awaited her, except her; she was utterly calm.
I suppressed my tears in anguish and sadness for her in my last call with her when she asked how long this pain would last and only asked for a word of prayer, hastening the surgery with full confidence in its success. But it was delayed due to circumstances... and it happened... after it was too late. Now I understand why she didn't want anyone to visit or worry about her; the illness exhausted her, and fate separated her from her sister at the most difficult stage of her life, which was between life and death. Pain beyond human imagination killed her... Even in the grip of death, she feared we would mourn her alive and grieve for her. What a strong person she was!! Her words were a beacon dispelling the darkness of a grim reality. Until the last gasp of this darkness, her pen groaned under the weight of events that kill us alive every day.
May she rest in peace, may God have mercy on her, and allow me to eulogize her as I have nothing left but her eulogy. She was one of the finest Yemeni women, and above all, a dear sister to many, especially her students. Her cultural circle extended to every inch of Yemen, from the university and cultural institutions to forums at home and abroad. She was the advocate of the civil state project. May God grant her expansive mercy and grant her family and loved ones patience and solace. We belong to God and to Him, we shall return.
To her pure soul and her pen that has not yet dried, I offer these words of eulogy borrowed from a poem by the creative Suad Al-Alas: