Azzam Kanaan set out to write the story of his life.
When he started, however, he realized he had to make sure his readers understood its context. The context in this case was the birth of human civilizations, the spread of religions, and the rise of empires. He wouldn’t start recounting his life until he had described the history of the Middle East from the last ice age until 1948.
He read hundreds of books and made nearly a thousand citations in order to be faithful to the truth. His humility and reluctance to talk about himself found a natural haven in the meticulous cataloging of the facts.
History is what happened.
If we are diligent and honest caretakers of our intellect, we can all arrive at the same conclusion of what has happened.
Inscription written in Arabic by Azzam to Shadia upon completion of the first draft
of this book. Azzam’s inscription to Shadia reads as follows:
Shadia, my precious,
This is part one of the big project that began about three years ago. Thank you for your support and patience. I know that this work has taken up plenty of our time together.
I look forward to the day when this project is complete. I know the extent of your pride and what goes on in your mind. I promise that this accomplishment will be what you expect and dream it to be. The sacrifices that we both have made for this project are worthy of such an outcome. We have done a lot for our people and our country, but this project will be the crowning endeavor.
I hope it will accomplish the goal of giving the new generation more information and greater loyalty to Palestine.
Azzam
April 28, 2016