Page 206

for nine years. We took part in the great procession, which began at Tahrir Square and included the then president of the republic, Major General Muhammad Naguib; Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser; and many ministers, scholars, and leading figures. After prayers over the body at the Circassian Mosque, it was carried to the family cemetery, where eulogies were delivered.

May God envelop the noble martyr in His wide mercy and make him a good example for the men of his nation.

“O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing. Enter among My servants and enter My garden.”

Meetings and Positions

During the years of the Second World War, I met in Europe, especially Germany, many prominent Muslims, Arabs, easterners, and many foreigners. I benefited greatly from some of those I met and discussed with them Islamic, Arab, eastern, and Western questions. Among them were the former king of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan; Abd al-Qayyum Khan, head of the United National Committee of Turkestan; Ali Khan, one of the leaders of the Muslims of the Caucasus in Russia; Sa‘id Bey Shamil, foreign minister of the Caucasus government and grandson of the great Muslim fighter Shaykh Shamil of the Caucasus; Subhas Chandra Bose, one of India’s major leaders; Kemal Bey Okhri, chief of staff to Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Atatürk); Ghulam Siddiq Khan, former Afghan foreign minister; Mehdi Bey Frashëri, president of the Albanian republic council; Tunisian leader Habib Bourguiba and a number of Tunisian fighters; Dr. Ma‘ruf al-Dawalibi, later prime minister of Syria; Dr. Taqi al-Din al-Hilali, one of Morocco’s scholars and leading men; and a select group of Iraqi figures, including Sayyid Rashid Ali al-Kaylani and Naji Bey Shawkat, former Iraqi prime ministers; Major General Ibrahim Pasha al-Rawi; Dr. Muhammad Hasan Salman, former health minister; Muhammad Salman, later Iraqi oil minister; al-Bashir al-Mahdi, later Tunisia’s ambassador in Lebanon; Dr. Wahbi al-Buri, later Libya’s foreign minister; Mahmud al-Muntasir, later one of Libya’s prime ministers; and many others.

Amanullah Khan, the former king of Afghanistan, had taken refuge in Italy after a revolution broke out in his country and overthrew him. I met him and he invited me many times to lunch at his palace in Rome. He was sad at being estranged from his country. The reason for the revolution was that Amanullah had tried to guide the Afghan people